Giorgio Chiellini has claimed Luis Suarez was right to bite him at the 2014 World Cup.
The shocking incident came during a winner takes all group game between Italy and Uruguay.
But with the score goalless Suarez took a bite out of Chiellini off the ball.
The forward escaped any punishment at the time, although he was handed a lengthy ban following the game.
A Diego Godin header ensured Uruguay progressed but the Juventus defender said in his autobiography 'Lo Giorgio' that he admires the Barcelona forward.
“Malice is part of football, I wouldn’t call it illegitimate. To get past a rival you have to be smart,” he said.
“I admire his cunning. If he lost it, he’d become an ordinary forward.”
The defender also went on to say that he felt Suarez's combative style was similar to his and he relishes those sort of opponents.
He added: “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.”
Suarez's antics at the World Cup came a little more than a year after he had committed the same offence while playing for Liverpool.
The Uruguayan bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in a match at Anfield and was later banned for ten games.
Sign up to the Mirror Football email here for the latest news and transfer gossip.
