Giorgio Chiellini has revealed his admiration for the man who bit his shoulder during the 2014 World Cup.
The veteran Juventus defender made the admission in his new autobiography, Io, Giorgio (Me, Giorgio).
Suarez was banned from football for four months after he was found to have bitten Chiellini's shoulder during Uruguay's 1-0 win over Italy in Natal.
It was the second time in 14-months that the then Liverpool striker had sunk his teeth into an opponent's anatomy.
Suarez avoided a red card but was given a 10 match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic when Liverpool met Chelsea at Anfield in April of 2013.
The Uruguayan began his nibbling trilogy in 2010 while at Ajax when he bit the shoulder of PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal. On that occasion he was fined and banned for two games.
"The truth is, I admire his mischief, because if Suarez were to lose that, he would become an average player," Chiellini wrote in his book.
"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 bitch 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."
Chiellini hasn't been as forgiving of his former Azzurri teammate Mario Balotelli.
The 35-year old described the Brescia striker as "a negative person" when interviewed about the book.
Balotelli has since forgiven him, saying, "Even if you unexpectedly stabbed me in the back, I still love you, man."
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