Question about today's USA/Belgium soccer game.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

I only watched the overtime.

#13 of the US was kicking the ball, a Belgian guy kicked it away from him, and the American guy instantly fell to the ground, injured.
On the instant replay it showed the Belgian player PUNCHING the American guy in the face with a right hook at the same time.

Yet he was not penalized. Is this acceptable??? Is it all right to blatantly punch the other guy?

[Drale]

1. The Ref's have to catch it

you'd think they would if it happened to the guy with the ball but ref's have already been charged with match fixing this world cup so who-the-hell-god-damn-knows.

[enlightenment]

2. I don't think De Bruyne punched Jones (13).

He kicked the ball into his face, probably accidentally (but who knows except for the player?). Jones already has a broken nose after clashing heads with Bedoya during the Germany match, which is probably why he went down and had a bit of a nose bleed.

If De Bruyne had punched him, there would have been a LOT more complaining.

[BelgianMadCow]

4. it was the ball and unintentional n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

3. I know from nothing about sports,

but it looked like a distinct right hook to me.

[enlightenment]

5. Footballers do weird things with their arms

because they aren't allowed to use their hands - so you see weird configurations sometimes that can be confusing. I initially thought the tip of his boot contacted Jones' face, but on replay you can see the ball.

It was a foolish move - his boot was far too close for comfort - but I doubt it was intentional.

The one thing I'm sure of is that had he kicked or punched Jones', the furor would have been intense - a deliberate strike like that is a sending-off offense and the US side would have taken advantage of the opportunity to relieve the Belgian squad of De Bruyne.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

6. Looked like a closed fist to me. I could be wrong.

[enlightenment]

7. I'd have to see the replay again.

It didn't look that way to me yesterday.

Regardless, your question was whether or not it is appropriate behavior - and the answer to that is no, it's not.