Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo ( born 22 May 1987) is a
Chilean footballer who plays as a
midfielder for
Juventus and the
Chile national team.
After starting his career with
Colo-Colo,
Chile's most successful club, Vidal joined German
Bundesliga club
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, where he played for four seasons. Since joining Juventus in 2011, Vidal has won four consecutive
Scudetti, played in the
UEFA Champions League final, and become widely recognized as one of the best players in world football.
Vidal has earned 64
caps for the Chilean national team since his debut in 2007, playing in the
2011 and
2015 Copa Américatournaments, and the
2010 and
2014 FIFA World Cups.
Club careerBayer Leverkusen
The
2007 Apertura Tournament was Vidal's last with Colo-Colo as he left for
Bayer Leverkusen in the summer. Bayer had tracked his progress for some time and his good showing at the
U-20 World Cup that year convinced Bayer's Director of Football
Rudi Völler to make the trip all the way to Chile in order to convince the twenty-year-old to sign. The two clubs then agreed on a fee of
$11 million with Bayer Leverkusen paying $7.7 million for 70% ownership of his contract. His transfer broke the previous national record of
Matías Fernández's $9 million transfer to
Villarreal.
Vidal missed the first game of the season through injury but was soon thrust into the starting line-up and made his debut on 19 August 2007 in the away loss against
Hamburg. He started in half the season's games and scored his first goal for the club just three games into his Bayer career. He was ever present for the
2008–09 season and played a vital role in Bayer's run to the
German Cup final. On 8 March, he suffered a concussion during the game against
VfL Bochum and was out for a month. Upon his return, he scored a goal to break the deadlock in the 4–1 semifinal win over
Mainz in the German Cup but Bayer eventually lost to
Werder Bremen in the final.
The 2010–11 season would be Vidal's last with Bayer. He helped the club to a runner-up finish in the Bundesliga and topped the assist charts for his club with 11 assists, which was joint second in the league. He also contributed two goals in their run to the Round of 16 of the
Europa League.
Juventus
After a good 2010–11 season, Vidal was linked with various clubs, including Bayer's Bundesliga rivals
Bayern Munich. On 22 July 2011, he joined
Serie A club
Juventus for
€10.5 million on a five-year contract. He made his competitive debut in the opening league game of the season against
Parma, coming on as a second-half substitute for
Alessandro Del Piero; he marked his first appearance with a goal six minutes after his introduction in Juventus' 4–1 win. It was initially speculated that he would compete with
Claudio Marchisio for a spot alongside
Andrea Pirlo but Conte instead played all three effectively in a three-man midfield. Vidal was an integral part of the
2011–12 Scudetto-winning side that went undefeated the entire season. He contributed seven league goals and three assists, including crucial goals against
Napoli and a double against
Roma.
On 19 September 2012, Vidal scored his first
UEFA Champions League goal in the
group stage match away against current holders
Chelsea. It was a crucial equaliser as Juve finished the game 2–2 after going two goals down in the first half. After helping the club to a second consecutive Serie A title, he was voted "Player of the Year" by registered users on the club website juventus.com.
On 27 November 2013, Vidal scored a
hat-trick against
F.C. Copenhagen in the
group stage of the
Champions League, two penalties and a header. It was his first career hat-trick, and made him the first Juventus player to
score three goals in a match in the Champions League since former Juventus player
Filippo Inzaghi against Hamburg in 2000. He later renewed his contract with Juventus, keeping him at the club until 2017. On 27 February 2014, Vidal scored his first goal in the
Europa League with Juventus, opening the scoring in a 2–0 win over
Trabzonspor, in the second leg of the round of 16, and helping Juventus to the semi-finals of the competition.Vidal's offensive contribution increased that season, as he managed 11 goals in
Serie A, and 7 in European competitions, and he was one of the protagonists of Juventus's season as they won their third consecutive league title. His season finished prematurely, however, as he sustained a knee injury.
In his
fourth season with Juventus, under manager
Massimiliano Allegri, Vidal began to play a more advanced role; in addition to his midfield box-to-box role in a 3–5–2 or 4–3–3 formation, Vidal was deployed as an attacking midfielder, supporting the strikers in Allegri's 4–3–1–2 formation, and occasionally as a wide midfielder in a 4–4–2 formation.Vidal scored his first goals of the season by managing a brace in a 3–0 win over Cesena on 24 September 2014. On 30 November, in the
Derby della Mole against local rivals
Torino, Vidal opened the scoring from a penalty, and later assisted Juventus's second goal in a 2–1 win. On 14 April 2015, in the first leg of the quarter-finals in the
2014-15 UEFA Champions League, Vidal converted a penalty as Juventus defeated
Monaco 1–0 at the
Juventus Stadium.
On 2 May 2015, Vidal scored the only goal of a 1–0 win at
Sampdoria, confirming La Vecchia Signora as Serie A champions for the fourth consecutive season. On 20 May, he appeared in Juventus's 2–1 win over
Lazio in the
2015 Coppa Italia Final, as Juventus captured a domestic double and their tenth Coppa Italia title. On 6 June 2015, Vidal started for Juventus in the
2015 UEFA Champions League Final as La Vecchia Signora was defeated 3–1 by
FC Barcelona at Berlin's
Olympiastadion.
International career
Vidal represented
Chile at the Under-20 level at the
2007 South American Youth Championship in
Paraguay where he was the tournament's second top scorer with six goals. During the tournament he played central midfield and helped the team to qualify for the
2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup where Chile finished in third place with Vidal scoring two goals in the tournament, including the match winner against Portugal in the Round of 16. Vidal made his senior debut in a friendly against
Venezuela where Chile won 1–0. He became a regular under
Marcelo Bielsa when fit during
2010 World Cup qualifying, playing in 11 matches and scoring a goal. He was then named in the final 23-man squad for the tournament and started in all four of Chile's matches as they were defeated by
Brazil in the
Round of 16. Vidal went on the appear in all of the team's matches at the
2011 Copa América, scoring in the 2–1 group stage defeat of
Mexico.
Vidal scored five times in 11 appearances for Chile as the team
qualified for the
2014 FIFA World Cup. At the tournament, he started in three of the La Roja's four fixtures, including the penalty shootout loss to Brazil in the
round of 16.
On 11 June 2015, five days after appearing the
2015 UEFA Champions League Final for Juventus, Vidal scored the opening goal of the
2015 Copa América from the penalty spot in Chile's 2–0 win over
Ecuador at the
Estadio Nacional in Santiago, having won the penalty himself when fouled by
Miller Bolaños. In the team's next group fixture, Vidal scored twice – a header from a corner and another self-earned penalty – and set up another as the hosts drew 3–3 with
Mexico on 15 June.
Personal life
source: wikipedia
