Agreed on the flopping to get fouls. Unfortunately, it's become a part of the game.
I totally understand the lack of interest from people who didn't grow up with the sport. It's much like cricket, baseball and other sports with wait time or low scores, in that it's easy to be bored by it when you don't fully understand the game. If you truly understand a sport, it's easy to be excited by a 1-0 final score. Take baseball for example- watching pitch selection, the shifts of the defense, all make it interesting (assuming you know what to watch for).
In my opinion, the World Cup is definitely in the same category- it's very entertaining if you understand the strategy, skill and nuances of the game, but incredibly boring if all you see is a bunch of guys kicking a ball around.