Indeed, I similarly totally accept that soccer is not such a nurtured game in the States - I can well imagine parent's would hardly want a gifted sports son or daughter to persue soccer at the expense of the main sports in the US, which apart from garnering the highest revenue should they turn pro would expose them to greater respect (for want of a better word) from peers and society.

Soccer is of course the mainstay of British sports schooling and indeed holds the highest esteem - witness the small pond ripple of the Rugby World Cup won back in 2003 compared to what would be Knighting all of the players and the support staff should England win the World Cup this year (a very far probablity at the moment). I guess Rugby and Cricket are our Baseball and Basketball respectively.

As much as I think there should be tough penalties on those who commit potential career ending fouls, there should similarly be tough penalties on those that, like you say when stretchered off the field suddenly bounce back to full fitness. Hard to enforce, but if you're stretchered off (as opposed to hobble off) you should either be substituted or play no further part in the game. I have a feeling that would soon put an end to the fakers