Arturo Vidal

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

Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean footballer who plays as defensive midfielder for Juventus and Chile. He is known for his tackling and passing abilities

Early life

Vidal was born in San Joaquín, a working class commune in the capital Santiago. He joined the youth squads of Primera División giants Colo-Colo.

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 was called into action with less than ten minutes left in the match 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) Vidal would become a more intricate piece of the squad and would lead Colo-Colo to their second championship win in a row. He has appeared in over thirty league matches for Colo-Colo. Vidal scored goals in all types of matches. He always had a strong relation with the net during the local league as well as the international scene where Vidal scored three goals in Colo-Colo's Copa Sudamericana 2006 campaign. During this campaign Vidal caught the eye of visiting scouts.

Bayer Leverkusen

The 2007 Apertura Tournament was Vidal's last with Colo-Colo, after being transferred to German club Bayer Leverkusen. Bayer had tracked his progress for some time and his good showing at the U-20 World Cup that year convinced Bayer' Director of Football Rudi Völler to make the trip all the way to Chile in order to convince the twenty-year-old to sign.^[2] The two clubs then agreed on a fee of $11 million with Bayer Leverkusen paying $7.7 million for seventy percent ownership of his contract. His transfer broke the previous record of Mati Fernandez's $9 million transfer to Villarreal C.F..^[3]
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 at 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 but Bayer eventually lost to Werder Bremen in the final.

Juventus

On 22 July 2011, Juventus confirmed the signing of Arturo Vidal on a 5 year deal for a fee up to € 12.5 million.

International career

Vidal represented the 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.^[5] Vidal made his senior debut in a friendly against Venezuela where Chile won 1–0. He has since been a regular under Marcelo Bielsa when fit during 2010 World Cup qualifying, playing in 11 matches and scoring a goal.^[6] He was then named in the final 23-man squad for the tournament.