Arturo Vidal

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Vidal and the second or maternal family name is Pardo.
Arturo Vidal
Personal information
Full name Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo
Date of birth 22 May 1987 (1987-05-22) (age 24)
Place of birth Santiago, Chile
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club Juventus
Number 22
Youth career
Melipilla
Colo-Colo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2005–2007 Colo-Colo 56 (5)
2007–2011 Bayer Leverkusen 117 (15)
2011– Juventus 12 (2)
National team‡
2007 Chile U-20 13 (8)
2007– Chile 37 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 December 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 September 2011

Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean footballer who plays as defensive midfielder for Juventus and Chile. Although usually deployed as a defensive midfielder, Vidal is a versatile box-to-box midfielder capable of playing in a more attacking role as well.[1]

Contents

Early life

Vidal was born in San Joaquín, a working class commune in the capital Santiago, the second of six children.[2] His potential was discovered by his uncle and he later joined the youth squads of local Primera División giants Colo-Colo.[3][1]

Club career

Colo-Colo

Vidal's professional debut came in the first leg of the 2006 Apertura Tournament final. The match was between Colo-Colo and arch rivals Universidad de Chile. Vidal came on as a late substitute for Gonzalo Fierro. Colo-Colo would go on to win the game 2–1 and win the championship as well. In the following season (2006 Clausura Tournament) he became a more important part of the squad and would lead Colo-Colo to their second championship win in a row. Vidal scored three goals in Colo-Colo's Copa Sudamericana 2006 campaign. His good showing caught the eye of scouts from various European clubs.

Bayer 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.[4] 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 record of Matías Fernández's $9 million transfer to Villarreal.[5]

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.[6] He also contributed 2 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 giants Juventus for €12.5 million on a 5-year contract.[7][8] 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.[9] He has since become an integral part of Antonio Conte's midfield alongside Italy internationals Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio.

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.[10] 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.[11] He was then named in the final 23-man squad for the tournament.

International goals

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 5 September 2009 Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile  Venezuela 1–0 2–2 2010 WCQ
2. 17 November 2010 Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile  Uruguay 2–0 2–0 Friendly
3. 4 July 2011 Estadio del Bicentenario, San Juan, Argentina  Mexico 2–1 2–1 2011 Copa América

Honours

Season Club Title
Apertura 2006 Colo-Colo Primera Division Chile Champion
Clausura 2006 Colo-Colo Primera Division Chile Champion
Apertura 2007 Colo-Colo Primera Division Chile Champion

Career statistics

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Chile League Copa Chile South America Total
2005 Colo-Colo Primera División 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2006 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2007 17 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total Chile 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Germany League DFB-Pokal Europe Total
2007-08 Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 24 1 0 0 9 0 33 1
2008-09 29 3 6 2 - - 35 5
2009-10 31 1 1 0 - - 32 1
2010-11 33 10 2 1 9 2 44 13
Total Germany 117 15 9 3 18 2 144 20
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
2011-12 Juventus Serie A 12 2 0 0 - - 12 2
Total Italy 12 2 0 0 0 0 12 2
Career total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

As of 6 December 2011

References

  1. ^ a b "Il guerriero Vidal: "Questa Juve mi assomiglia: corre lotta come me" (in Italian). La Stampa. 25 November 2011. http://www3.lastampa.it/sport/sezioni/quijuve/articolo/lstp/431534/. 
  2. ^ "Energia Vidal" (in Italian). Hurrà Juventus. November 2011. 
  3. ^ "Warrior With a World Cup Dream". Bundesliga. 21 August 2010. http://www.bundesliga.de/en/liga/news/2009/index.php?f=151710.php. Retrieved 17 January 2011. 
  4. ^ "Vidal eyes Bayer and Chile glory". fifa.com. 2 April 2008. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=730779.html. Retrieved 17 January 2011. 
  5. ^ "Bayern Leverkusen signse Chilean defender Vidal". iht.com. 28 April 2007. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/28/sports/LA-SPT-SOC-Bayern-Leverkusen-Vidal.php. Retrieved 14 March 2008. 
  6. ^ "Vidal's thirst for silverware". fifa.com. 18 January 2011. http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1366548.html. 
  7. ^ "Agreement with Bayer 04 Leverkusen for the acquisition of the player Arturo Vidal". Juventus. 22 July 2011. http://www.juventus.com/wps/wcm/connect/20a03ce3-7857-424c-9889-4e7546a628ea/comunicato+22072011+vidal+eng.pdf?MOD=AJPERES. Retrieved 22 July 2011. 
  8. ^ "Vidal in, Melo out". uefa.com. 22 July 2011. http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/association=ita/news/newsid=1652881.html. 
  9. ^ "Juventus open with stylish win". Eurosport. 11 September 2011. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/11092011/58/serie-juventus-open-stylish-win.html. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
  10. ^ "Chile grab bronze". fifa.com. 22 July 2007. http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/u20worldcup/canada2007/news/newsid=557018.html. Retrieved 17 January 2011. 
  11. ^ "Venezuela sorprendió a Chile en Santiago y obtuvo un punto de oro (2-2)" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 6 September 2009. http://www.conmebol.com/conmebol/mainMedia.html?id=9194. Retrieved 17 January 2011. 

External links

Juventus F.C. – current squad
Chile squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup
Chile squad – 2011 Copa América