Learned His Lesson? Well...

He may not have been thinking it at the time but Sunday's yellow card for simulation was the best thing that could've happened to Jean Carlo Solorzano.

For those who missed it, barely five minutes in to his A-League debut Solorzano contested a header on the halfway line by throwing his arms back and belly-flopping spectacularly to the turf.

In my one-eyed way I immediately yelled at the television set, "That has to be a free kick." - except I said it with a rather generous inclusion of profanity that would surely be unfit for publication here.

However, referee Kris Griffith-Jones wasn't as fooled as I was by the ham-fisted theatrics of the Costa Rican striker. The man with the whistle promptly pulled out a yellow card and booked him. Solorzano should be thankful.

Only the week before the FFA's secretive House of Un-Australian Activities hearings were throwing around two match suspensions with all the tact of a Danny Tiatto two-footed special. A yellow card is a slap on the wrist by comparison.

But not only should Solorzano be thankful, so should all Roar fans - even the potty-mouthed bloggers.

You see, sometimes it isn't always a good thing to get away with risky behaviour - especially the first time - because if you do, then it will only encourage you to perform the same risky behaviour again and again until you the odds turn against you.

I can recall an incident from my youth that illustrates my point.

I had received my first proper pay cheque, a paltry sum looking back but still, at the time, I felt feveristically flush.

So it seemed like a good idea to toast my new-found status as a work-a-day bloke with celebratory drinks in the Brisbane CBD. Long story short, I went to the casino and promptly lost the lot on several spins of a roulette wheel.

Why do I mention this? Because it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

From that moment on an indelible association formed in my head that prevented me from repeating my mistake. That is, whenever I gamble, I expect to lose everything.

And so it will hopefully be with Solorzano in regards to simulation.

The next time he feels a tug at the jersey or a small shove in the back he may not be so quick to fall over in an attempt to earn a free kick or penalty. It'll be a case of once bitten, twice shy.

Then again, he may not. Because whether or not Solorzano has actually learned his lesson is still open to debate.

The cheeky smile he flashed toward the referee following his booking was reminiscent of far too many players that partake in football's worst form of gamesmanship.

But I am hoping I read that smile wrong just as I read the initial incident wrong. Maybe it was more of an embarrassed smirk than a sinister smile. And perhaps we will see Solorzano stay on his feet in future.

That way he may be able to do what he is being paid for - score a few goals - rather than flopping to the ground like a tranquilised giraffe and eventually earning the wrath of the match review panel.