But they are not known like that today
In every single team you'll find a player who fakes an injury, wasted time, dived etc. Still, if you create a poll about the team that does it the most (traditionally) where everyone in the world can vote, Italy will win hands down.
Is that a coincidence?
It's indeed an annoying stereotype. If someone followed serie A in the last 2 seasons, he will tell you that there has been much less of those dirty things lately. But you can't possibly neglect the fact that the Italians were and still are master of that. They will carry the label for a long time if they don't change. I think they're changing, slowly but they are, so with time it could be a thing of the history. But right now they wull have to live with the label and they won't be taken seriously when they call foul play. Tough, but it's reality.