Calling it soccer is inadvertently apt in this context, as I notice a lot of Americans who don't follow the sport hate football mostly because of the diving aspect. Not that their sports aren't full of clowns who cheat in other ways, but it of course can look ridiculous and unmanly.
A sport where you play and tackle with and against the legs is going to cause a lot of scenarios where small touches take players down, and this has been manipulated over time.