Perhaps facing the most important football match of his life with La Roja, Arturo Vidal wants to give Chilean fans their first Copa América title in the tournament's 99-year history. "King" Arturo's performance in the competition started correctly, with the midfielder scoring three goals in two matches, but after his heavily publicized DUI incident, his performance on the pitch has not been as influential as coach Jorge Sampaoli would have liked.
With a match such as this one coming up, fans, experts and his team-mates expect Vidal to contribute to his team's success. How has he done when his club -or National Team- plays a match that ends with one side lifting the trophy?
Colo Colo
Arturo Vidal's first final came in the 2006 Copa Sudamericana, during his first full season with Colo Colo. Led by former Chile coach Claudio Borghi while playing alongside Alexis Sánchez, El Cacique was able to get to the final match against Mexican side Pachuca, who ended up winning the Cup by shocking the Chileans with a 2-1 score at Estadio Nacional. This was the first final series played by Vidal, ending with a loss for "King" Arturo.
Vidal, during the 2006 Copa Sudamericana final.
Bayer Leverkusen
Once the German side paid Colo Colo one of the highest fees in the history of Chilean football, Vidal became one of Europe's most trusted defenders. With Leverkusen, Vidal played the 2008-2009 DFB Pokal final, which the team ended up losing against Werder Bremen. Vidal's performance for the red-and-black sidde proved to be key during the tournament, scoring a crucial goal against Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
Vidal became a sure bet taking penalties for all his teams since his days with Bayer Leverkusen.
Juventus
Vidal's luck when playing for titles changed when he joined La Vecchia Signora, where he was able to add silverware to his resume. Without considering the Serie A Scuddettos won by the Bianconeri, Vidal played the 2012, 2013 and 2014 Italian Super Cups, winning the first two. Furthermore, his presence in the Coppa Italia finals of 2012 and 2015 ended up with the Chilean winning the latest. Perhaps the most painful experience for Vidal while playing for the Italian side was the UEFA Champions League final, where Juventus was not able to defeat Barcelona and were denied of winning the treble.
Vidal will try to defeat Lionel Messi in the second final played between each other in the past two months.
Adding up his stats, Vidal has played eight final matches in his career, winning three times and losing five. This will be his first decisive match with La Roja, and he will surely try to make it one that lasts in all of the Chilean fans' memory.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
Chile P0 - 0 Argentina
July 4, 2015 4:00pmEstadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos (Santiago de Chile)This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
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