Arsenal full-back Emmanuel Eboue claims diving is not in his nature.
Emmanuel Eboue has claimed he is not a diver and denied any deliberate wrongdoing during the UEFA Champions League final against Barcelona in May.
The Arsenal full-back was reprimanded by Arsene Wenger after the game for his theatrics, which earned the free-kick that handed his side the lead.
And Wenger spoke out again this month about Eboue's diving, saying he had spoken with him about 'exaggerating on the field' because reputations can be hard to shake.
But Eboue says cheating is not in his nature.
"It is not my style to play like that," he told the Daily Mail.
He added that his controversial challenge on Giovanni van Bronckhorst was unintentional and accepts that he could easily have been red-carded for the offence.
"I honestly didn't mean to and I apologised immediately."
He also revealed that he is a very serious player on the pitch, and had problems recently with Spurs striker Robbie Keane.
"I'm not out on the pitch to mess about or have a laugh. Sometimes you can be light-hearted, but not all the time. It depends on the situation.
"When I came up against Robbie Keane, in that recent game against Tottenham, I got very angry because first he provoked me, then he annoyed me, then he trod on me and then he insulted me.
"I don't accept that. I don't like being insulted or shouted at by a player. I just want to do my job well and I don't like people messing about with me during a game."
