December 13 2004

Sandor Torghelle

Sandor Torghelle was branded 'a cheat' by Blackburn defender Craig Short for diving during the game on Saturday.

The Hungerian international was booked towards the end of the game for playacting in an incident which sparked a melee where David Thompson got sent off for a second yellow card.

Short was angry about the incident and said: "In any other sport, if you cheat, you get banned,"

"Okay, Torghelle got a yellow card but sometimes that's not enough punishment.

"It's sparked off an incident and we've had Thompson sent off.

"It was horrible to see and it goes on a bit too much in our division nowadays. It's crept in more and more in the last five years.

"Sometimes it's difficult for referees because the game is so quick. Was it a dive or was it a foul?

"But players have got a responsibility to be honest and he was obviously dishonest. It's up to the authorities to stamp it out."

Even Torghelle's team mates are beginning to accept his approach to the game.

Wayne Andrews told the Evening Standard: "That is just Torghelle. It is just a different mentality.

"My intention is to try to stay on my feet but everybody plays differently. In South America they go down a lot. We have Ivan Kaviedes from Ecuador and even in training there is a lot of screaming and throwing themselves about."

Meanwhile rumours have been linking Torghelle with a move to Italian giants Roma. The Stadio Olimpico based club have been struggling in Serie A this season and are currently lying in 9th spot.

They are bracing themselves for Francesco Totti and youngster Antonio Cassano to leave the club, and they are currently looking at cut-price alternatives as they struggle with finanical problems.

Torghelle told Hungarian website www.nb1.hu: "I've heard about these reports but I can't say more about it."

"It would be a huge honour for me if my name was really connected with the Italian giants, but one should know that I don't play in the same position as Cassano."