WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina, June 17 (Reuters) - Germany defender Antonio Ruediger is happy being cast as the villain amid criticism of his on-pitch behaviour and said on Wednesday that controversy generates clicks and any publicity was good publicity.
Ruediger, who earned a one-year contract extension at Real Madrid on Tuesday, has often found himself in the spotlight for his aggressive play, provoking opponents or showing dissent.
He said he respected any serious criticism but said people often exaggerated his behaviour in order to turn him into a bogeyman.
"First of all I respect opinions," Ruediger told a press conference. "I take them seriously and I have apologised (in the past) for these things. But there is not much to be said. Serious criticismis always welcome.
"But one has to ask oneself when you hear so much, it generates clicks when you talk about social media. I see something positive there. Because my name gets a lot of clicks. I can't explain it. Sometimes bad press is good press."
Ruediger has been at the heart of several controversies over the years for both club and country, including getting a six-match ban for throwing an object at the referee in the 2025Copa delRey final in Spain, which earned him sharp criticism from Germany's national team director Rudi Voeller.
He also seemed to taunt Japan's players during a 2022 World Cup group-stage match when he chased down a ball with a comical high-knee sprint that many pundits branded as arrogant and disrespectful.
The defender has lost his starting spot in the Germany backline to Jonathan Tah in recent months but is comfortable with his role as a substitute as the Germans prepare to face Ivory Coast in their second World Cup Group E match on Saturday.
They opened their campaign with a 7-1 demolition of Curacao earlier this week.
Asked whether tough players in Spain like Sergio Ramos or Portugal's Pepe were treated differently than players with those characteristics in Germany, Ruediger said he felt he was at times singled out on social media for his actions.
"I don't know really," Ruediger said. "For me, in the social media world I am the bogeyman, again. In Spain actions are more celebrated. There were so many games where I had great sliding tackles and there were groups of fans who chanted my name. Let social media be social media and we stay in the real world."
(Reporting by Karolos GrohmannEditing by Toby Davis)
