For those not paying attention, and from the television ratings, not many are, the World Cup of soccer is down to its final eight teams, with quarterfinal matches set for today and Saturday, followed by the semifinals early next week and the championship match on July 15 from Russia.

Soccer continues to be the most watched sport in the world. Yes, in the U.S. we are not as keen to the sport of “football” as the European and South American audiences. Soccer can appear to be slow-moving, with most scores ranging in the 1-0, 2-1 area, something us Americans become easily bored with.

This year’s World Cup had its issues from the start. No United States. No Italy. No Netherlands. Not even a surprise team like Trinidad & Tobago to root for after those teams were eliminated during their regional tournaments.

According to Fox Sports, which has aired all of the World Cup games, not having the Americans there, if only to play in pool play and go home quietly, has kept the viewership down.

I have watched several games. My oldest son, who is into the X-Box craze where he plays the FIFA soccer game with friends throughout the world, knows the players. Neymar, Messi, Ronaldo are the usual suspects for me, while he will pull out names from several other countries and actually get excited to see them in the game.

We have even made our picks. He is stomping me, and often teases me about how he rolled over the entire family during the recently completed National Hockey League playoffs. “I was 16-2,” he said to me on Wednesday after going 7-1 in the World Cup Round of 16. I was a pedestrian 5-3 and saw my pick of Spain winning the World Cup end when host Russia earned an upset victory.

I can say without question that these guys are brilliant soccer players. They make the game look so easy. Stop, start, cut, shoot, they can do it all with a soccer ball at their feet.

And, the game is rough. There are hard tackles, spikes up into un-protected knees. When a shot is taken, it is often sent toward the goaltender with rising pace.

Speaking of the goalie, he is defending a 24-foot wide cage. A perfect shot, even if the goaltender plays it right, is often a goal in the World Cup with the talent on the pitch.

In the Round of 16, three games were decided in penalty kicks. Talk about pressure. I maintain this pressure is not on the goaltenders. If they stop a shot, it is big, almost miraculous. The pressure really goes to the shooters. They walk slowly toward the goal from midfield, alone in their thoughts as 60,000 World Cup fans scream their heads off. The goaltender waits, and as the shot is released, the netminder normally guesses, sometimes the right way, other times the wrong. A save, one save, is often the difference between his team advancing or going home.

The speed of the game is unreal, and the physicality in front of the goalie on a corner kick or free kick marvels that of a forward trying to screen an NHL goaltender, with slashes and cross-checks replaced by grabs, holds, tackles and pushes in soccer. They use their heads to score and pass, and I have seen two players collide in mid-air, head on head, more times than I can count.

And, this year’s World Cup has featured a surprising run by the home nation as Russia will face Croatia on Saturday in the quarterfinals. There have certainly been a lot of wonderful aspects of this year’s event.

Acting, diving, flopping

Now to the part of the World Cup that I can’t stand — the flopping, diving, acting that occurs in nearly every single game.

Neymar, the standout from Brazil that even the casual soccer fan knows, is the poster child for what is wrong with world-class soccer.

In an opening-round contest against Switzerland, Neymar was allegedly fouled 10 times, resulting in 10 free kicks, four yellow cards for the Swiss and several delays while Neymar rolled around on the ground in “pain.” Slow motion replay often showed that Neymar wasn’t toughed, or at least not enough to warrant him rolling around like he had just been hit by a car.

Check it out on Facebook. Type “Neymar rolls,” and see what comes up. Videos have gone viral as Neymar is shown rolling through traffic, down a hill with kids, avoiding an avalanche, and many more situations. This is how silly his antics have become. It truly makes the game almost unwatchable if you’re a true sportsman, and in my opinion takes away from his brilliance as possibly the best men’s soccer player in the world today.

I was taught that you only show injury when you’re injured. Imagine a high school football player getting blocked and rolling around the field over a 10-15 yard stretch, acting like he is in agony, only to jump up and get back into the huddle once realizing that his acting resulted in a foul on his opponent.

Athletes often try to fool officials. A shortstop slaps a tag down, clearly misses the baserunner, but shows the ball convincingly to the umpire for an out call. My earlier mentioned son was a great actor in hockey. If he felt a stick around his knees and realized that he was going to be unable to get a shot off, he often tumbled to the ice, with his opponent going to the penalty box for tripping.

But, the one thing I can say to players like a Neymar or Messi, is kids are watching you. If these world-class players at the top of their field act like this in the world’s biggest four-year event, kids will too.

I can already see it, covering a high school soccer game in the fall and a player gets fouled and screams in agony while rolling around the field.

Only difference — if that player stays down the referee will send that player to the bench for medical treatment. That is the way it works in high school soccer, and maybe is something FIFA needs to look into four years from now when the World Cup is contested again.

If not, I fear viewership for this great, world-wide event, will continue to wane.

BOB CONN is The Times Record sports editor. He can be reached at bconn@timesrecord.com.