Rüdiger on His Social Media Bogeyman Role: There's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity

German international Antonio Rüdiger embraces his role as a social media bogeyman, believing that all publicity is good publicity. The Real Madrid defender once again drew widespread attention for his antics against Curaçao, facing accusations of aggressive play, provocation, and arrogance in recent days. While he respects his critics, Rüdiger also suggested they sometimes exaggerate. "First and foremost, I respect everyone's opinion. I've apologized numerous times in the past. In this specific case, I don't have much to say. Serious criticism is always welcome. However, we need to ask ourselves if all of this isn't just for social media clicks. Apparently, my name generates a lot of those, which is inexplicable to me. Sometimes bad publicity is clearly good publicity," Rüdiger stated.

The German international has been involved in several controversies in the past, both at club and national level. He was handed a six-match ban in 2025 after throwing an object at a referee in the Spanish Cup final, an incident for which he was also criticized by Germany's national team coordinator, Rudi Völler. In 2022, the defender was accused of arrogance and disrespect in a match against Japan after performing a comical sprint towards a ball going out of play.

Rüdiger has lost his starting spot in the national team to Jonathan Tah, but the Real Madrid player has repeatedly stated he is comfortable with a reserve role. Germany thrashed Curaçao 7-1 in their opening match and will next face Ivory Coast in Group E. When asked if he believes players with similar characteristics to Sergio Ramos and Pepe are treated differently than a German footballer, Rüdiger responded: "Honestly, I don't know. On social media, they see me as a bogeyman. In Spain, they respect you when you give your all. I've been in many duels after which they chanted my name. Let's let social media be social media, and we'll stay in the real world."