BERLIN - It's all in the angles. That's the view of one of the world's top 21 referees whose job it is to eliminate cheating at this year's World Cup.

The referees of the soccer World Cup 2006 pose for a picture in Neu Isenburg, near Frankfurt, central Germany, Monday, June 5, 2006. Front row from left: Toru Kamikawa, Japan, Shamsul Madin, Singapore, Essam Abd el Fatah, Egypt, Coffi Codija, Benim, Khalil Al Ghamdi, Saudi Arabia, Mogamed Guezzaz, Morocco, Jerome Damon, South Africa, Kevin Stott, USA. Middle row from left: Benito Archundia, Mexico, Marco Rodriguez, Mexico, Clarlos Amarilla, Paraguay, Horacio Elizondo, Argentina, Jorge Larrionda, Uruguay, Oscar Ruiz, Colombia, Carlos Simon, Brazil, Mark Shield, Australia, Carlos Chandia, Chile. Back row from left, Massiom Bussaca, Switzerland, Franck de Bleekere, Belgium, Valantin Ivanov, Russia, Luis Medina Cantalejo, Spain, Markus Merk, Germany, Lubos Michel, Slovakia, Graham Poll, England, Eric Poulat, France, Roberto Rosetti, Italy.[AP]

Mark Shield, a 32-year-old Australian widely viewed as the man to pick up the mantle of the world's top referee from Italy's Gianluigi Collina, got into the nitty gritty of how to stop the cheats during a gathering of World Cup referees in Frankfurt.

FIFA has ordered referees at the tournament, which starts Friday, to clamp down on "simulation," the art of trying to win a free kick or a penalty and get the opposing player into trouble.

"It's all a question of being in the right place at the right time," Shield told The Associated Press. The 32-year-old Shield is the youngest referee at the tournament, but this is already his second World Cup.

Simulation, or diving, was perfected on the playing fields of southern Europe and Latin America decades ago. Seen by many in those countries as part of the game, the rest of the world goes irate at what they see as downright cheating.

Now, with players crossing continents to play, professionals often seem to regard learning how to dive as a training ground exercise. Some people consider the development as a global stain on soccer's character.

For referees, it's all a question of being there when the simulated foul supposedly takes place, and in just the right position to be able to see if there is any contact at all between the players.

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