Vidal must win over Chile

COMMENT: The Juve midfielder faces the biggest
moment of his career as he looks to win back the
support of his nation and the doting eyes of
Europe's biggest clubs
By Kris Voakes | International Football
Correspondent
As Chile’s Copa America odyssey faces its
moment of reckoning, so does Arturo Vidal in what
has been an eventful but so far unproductive spell
in the Juventus midfielder’s career.
Saturday’s final against Argentina will decide
whether the host nation’s rekindled love affair with
its football side is to have a happy ending. Victory
would give them their first continental title. Defeat
will be just another let-down.
The locals’ relationship with their football heroes is
a polarised one, with the last few weeks
underlining the nature in which the support of the
masses comes with conditions.
“Playing at home - it isn’t normal that the people
jeer,” claimed goalkeeper Claudio Bravo after the
victory over Ecuador which opened the tournament.
“There are a lot of periods of silence. It’s not just
me saying this, it’s the general feeling. When
things aren’t going well for us, we need more.”
Perhaps they are lucky that things have gone well
for them. As the final showdown draws near, there
are very few Chileans not throwing their weight
behind the Roja 100 per cent. It is a far cry from
the scenario which left Bravo feeling the need to
speak out less than a months ago.
For midfield star Vidal, though, it has been an
altogether more chaotic few weeks. After turning in
an erratic performance in Juventus’ Champions
League final defeat to Barcelona at the beginning of
June he was in desperate need of a successful
Copa America.
Two games in, that looked to be exactly what he
was about to deliver. Two star performances and
three goals had helped Chile to the verge of the
quarter-final, and everybody was starting to rave
about the impact of ‘Rey Arturo’. He was proving
himself to be the man courted so readily by the
likes of Real Madrid and Arsenal, and it was to the
huge advantage of his national side.
But his much-publicised car crash on the journey
back from a night at the casino with his wife and a
not-insubstantial quantity of alcohol has been a
massive turning point in his tournament on a
personal level.
Firstly, it resulted in him losing much of the
adoration of his compatriots. Suddenly he was no
longer ‘Rey Arturo’, but rather the example of the
modern prima donna footballer. He was the
overpaid, disrespectful face of a game the country
had just begun to take to its heart once more.
And while his actions in his Ferrari 485, along with
his ridiculous attempts to side-step the long arm
of the law immediately after, have been forgotten if
not forgiven by most over the course of the last
couple of weeks, Vidal’s performances have been
significantly less noteworthy than those which
preceded his night of shame. He has been far
more insular on the field, playing within himself
and often seeming to let the game pass him by.
There is talk that Arsenal have been scared away
by his bad attitude, while Madrid have seemingly
not taken it too well either despite their continued
pursuit. Juventus, meanwhile, are known to be
seething due to the damage done to such a huge
asset. He is not quite persona non grata, but his
stock has been significantly higher.
What Vidal needs now is a huge performance in
what is perhaps Chile’s biggest ever game. A Copa
America triumph on home soil would be
something no Chilean would ever forget. And if the
28-year-old can be the inspiration behind such a
success, then redemption would be near – if not
complete.
The all-action, box-to-box dynamo that once was
Arturo Vidal has not been in evidence for some
time. The past season in Turin has been
unquestionably his least outstanding since arriving
in Serie A. He looked to be right back on form in
those first two fixtures against Ecuador and Mexico,
only to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Now is the time for Vidal to repay his country with
the performance of his life. Argentina will provide
easily the toughest test Chile have faced so far.
But for the player himself it is surely the biggest
test of his career.
Defeat will leave many asking where their team feel
short, and fingers will be pointed as much at Vidal
as anywhere else. But if he could inspire a
memorable win it would make him the unlikely
king of a nation he had left scandalised only a
fortnight ago.