World Cup: Former Chelsea defender slammed for laughing during Germany’s defeat to Japan

Chelsea legend, Tony Cascarino has slammed the club’s former defender, Antonio Rudiger, who is on international duty with Germany for mocking Japan forward, Takuma Asano during their 2022 FIFA World Cup 2-1 defeat on Wednesday.

The match saw Japan expectedly beat Germany who were leading with one goal in their Group E World Cup opener.

While Ilkay Gundogan scored the opening goal for Germany, two second-half goals from Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano gave Japan the win.

However, a highlight during the match showed the moment Rudiger pulled off a cartoonish and bizarre run in the race against Asano before guiding the ball out of play.

Cascarino, who was not pleased with Rudiger’s action pointed out the Real Madrid star‘s mocking run, saying he was laughing as he was running.

“Rudiger there is mocking his opposition position in Asano, that was a strange running style, but he was laughing as he was running,” Cascarino told TalkSPORT.

“Do you feel that moment of Rudiger mocking the forward when he was running contributed to the lackadaisical approach in the second half that Germany have had in this game?

“He was smiling as he was running and he was clearly mocking the Japanese centre-forward.”