That's not how it works in football. Or in most other sports either. By that measure, neither Henry nor Maradona were breaking the rules with their famous handball incidents, and that doesn't pass any sense check.
Maybe it's seen differently in a few sports - I mean, do you consider that Gaylord Perry was only cheating when he got caught ? Conceivably you could argue that trying to get away with the spitter or a corked bat is just part of the heritage of baseball. And, if so, maybe that applies to Barry Bonds juicing himself too ?
Well they both were breaking the rules only after the fact, since both teams won. They were not punished by giving them red cards or by taking away the goals.
If I was coaching a team much slower or with less 'style' than my upcoming oponent I would hope and plan for a strategy of aggressive defense to take away some portion of that speed and style. I would stress pushing the envelope to some extent until the ref put a stop to that strategy.
Cheating and rough play are totally different. Taking PHDs or 'doctoring' the bat/ball, and DELIBERATELY using a handball are cheating.... rough play is a strategy/tactic that was taken to the extreme because the ref didn't really put a stop to it.