Luis Suarez’s bite on Giorgio Chiellini remains one of the most shocking images in World Cup history.It was truly incredible.On June 24, 2014, Suarez’s Uruguay took on Chiellini’s Italy in the group stages of the World Cup in Brazil.In the closing stages of the game, Suarez and Chiellini clashed in the penalty. When replays showed the incident back, it was evident that the Uruguay forward had bitten Chiellini on the shoulder.Suarez was sent home from the tournament and received a fourth-month ban.The Barcelona striker initially protested his innocence, claiming he lost his balance and fell on the defender.
He’s since accepted his part in the incident, issuing an apology to Juventus’ Chiellini, and he’ll be very interested to hear what the centre-back had to say about the incident in his autobiography.
According to Football Italia, Chiellini writes that he admires Suarez’s mischievous side and that malice is part of the game.
The defender also believes that Suarez “would become an average” player without his troublesome instincts.
“The truth is, I admire his mischief, because if Suarez were to lose that, he would become an average player,” wrote Chiellini.
“Nothing strange happened that day in the 2014 World Cup. I marked Edinson Cavani for most of the game, another complicated guy to keep up with, and we held nothing back.
“Suddenly, I realised I’d been bitten on the shoulder. It happened, that’s all there is to it, but that is his strategy when fighting with body-to-body contact and, if I may say, it’s mine too.
“Suarez and I are similar and I like facing strikers like him. I called him a couple of days after the game, but he had no need to apologise to me. I too am a son of a b***h on the field and proud of it.
“Mischief and a little bit of malice are part of the game, I wouldn’t call that cheating. You need to be intelligent to overcome your rival.”
So there you have it. Chiellini saw little wrong in Suarez biting him - and actually admires him for crossing the line sometimes.