MILAN — Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini admires Uruguay forward Luis Suarez for biting him during a heated match at the 2014 World Cup, he said in his autobiography.
Suarez, who escaped punishment during the game, was later banned for four months plus nine internationals — but Chiellini said he bore no grudge towards him.
"Malice is part of football, I wouldn't call it illegitimate. To get past a rival you have to be smart," the Juventus captain said in the book "Io, Giorgio".
"I admire his cunning," he added. "If he lost it, he'd become an ordinary forward."