Everyone remembers the image of Uruguay's Luis Suarez's bite on the shoulder of Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during the two team's 2014 World Cup match. It inspired memes then and it does the same in 2020 as well.
Chiellini, who was back then seen arguing fiercely with the referee and showing him the mark of the bite, has now come out to say that he doesn't consider that move of Suarez's as "illegitimate".
In his autobiography, Chiellini has remarked that he and Suarez are actually quite similar and he likes the fiercess Suarez shows on the field.
"Malice is part of football, I wouldn't call it illegitimate. To get past a rival you have to be smart," Chiellini has said in his book 'Io Giorgio'.
"I admire his cunning. If he lost it, he'd become an ordinary forward," Chiellini further said.
Suarez escaped punishment for his act during the match but was later banned for four months plus nine internationals.
Giorgio further opened up on the turn of events during the game and how it led to the bite.
"I marked (Edinson) Cavani for most of the match, another guy who is difficult to mark and who we didn't hold back against.
"Suddenly I noticed that I had been bitten in the shoulder. It just happened, but that's his strategy in hand-to-hand combat and, if I may say so, it's mine too. He and I are alike, and I like to take on attackers like him," he said.
At the time of the incident, the scoreline was goalless but minutes after the incident, Uruguay took a 1-0 lead that took them to the Round of 16.
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