England international Gary Cahill revealed an anecdote showing Napoli and Belgium striker Dries Mertens is “obviously a decent fella. I really respect him for that.”

The pair met in unfortunate circumstances during a friendly just ahead of Euro 2012, when Mertens shoved Cahill in the back and he clattered into teammate Joe Hart.

A fractured jaw ruled Cahill out of the tournament and they’ll meet again on Thursday in the 2018 World Cup in Kaliningrad.

England international Gary Cahill revealed an anecdote showing Napoli and Belgium striker Dries Mertens is “obviously a decent fella. I really respect him for that.”

The pair met in unfortunate circumstances during a friendly just ahead of Euro 2012, when Mertens shoved Cahill in the back and he clattered into teammate Joe Hart.

A fractured jaw ruled Cahill out of the tournament and they’ll meet again on Thursday in the 2018 World Cup in Kaliningrad.

There was, however, another encounter before that, which Cahill described to The Telegraph newspaper.

“I saw him while I was on holiday, he came over. It was recently, when I last missed the England squad and I went to Dubai.

“I was in a restaurant and he took time out to come over and apologise for that situation, which for me was dead and buried, but I actually respected him a hell of a lot for doing that.

“That’s not something he had to do, he didn’t know me, I didn’t even know he was in there to be honest. He came over and apologised for that and that’s years down the line from when it happened.

“We shook hands and I said ‘look, it’s finished with’. It was years after. I don’t know him from Adam, but the guy is obviously a decent fella.

“How many times are you playing and you kind of shove, or you’re frustrated and don’t get the ball and shove someone out the way?

“I think it was one of those things, it was a freak situation, I hit Joe Hart, probably one of the worst people to hit in the whole team because his shoulders are massive.

“That was that. I held no grudges against him. I was just really disappointed with my situation that I was missing that tournament. Roll down the years after that, for him to take time out, just a couple of minutes, to apologise, I really respect him for that.”

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