“I think this is the right time for his return. It's time, I have no other arguments to give. » Ricardo Gareca did not intend to stir things up this Wednesday in front of journalists. So much so that the Chile coach seemed less concerned by the return to the selection of Arturo Vidal than by the worrying situation of his team, which is in a sad tenth and last place in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, a small point behind Peru that she faces this Friday at theMonumental Stadium of Lima. However, it's good The King » which concentrates all the Chilean Football news in recent days, the announcement of his return to the selection having had the effect of a bomb in the longest country in the world.
And for good reason, the one many consider to be the best player in the history of The Red has just been recalled by Gareca for the double confrontation against Peru and Venezuela, he who has not been invited there since September 2023 and a 0-0 against Colombia. An unexpected return that he owes in large part to the cascade of injuries, the latest of which (Williams Alarcón) seemed to give the Argentine technician no other choice than to recall the idol of the people.
“This idiot doesn’t watch the games”
It must be said that media pressure was growing stronger, with the country's largest media calling for the return ofThe Warrior to revitalize a totally amorphous selection, far from the 2015-2016 Chilean hype which won two Copa América in a row and sipped the tears of Léo Messi after the penalties. Because Arturo Vidal is in very good shape: returning home to his training club Colo-Colo last January, the native of San Joaquín has just taken his club to a championship-supercup double of which he was one of the main artisans. Omnipresent, the most stylish crest in world football behind that of Marek Hamšík never stops sending destructive tackles, throwing mule strikes from 35 meters and carrying his balls on péno, the latest against rival Huachipato in the Chilean Super Cup final this Wednesday (0-2).
He must stop inventing. Football is very simple. The worst part is that we look poor against these idiots against whom we won two Copas.
An astonishing shape with 37 brooms, which recalls the finest European hours of a box-to-box environment which made the heyday of Bayer, Juve, Bayern, Barça and Inter during a career crowned with as many titles as tattoos. With his XXL performances, it was a free-wheeling Vidal who protested last September about his new absence from the selection, debunking in the Gareca rules: “It seems that this idiot doesn't watch Copa Libertadores matches, he only watches the Argentine championship”adding “He needs to stop inventing. Football is very simple. The worst part is that we look poor against these idiots against whom we won two Copas”. In these conditions, it was still difficult a few days ago to imagine a return of the King to the from Everyone's Teamrather suggesting an end to the international career for the man with 142 caps.
Drunkenness and repeated escapades
If Vidal never had his tongue in his pocket, this same tongue never trailed far from a large glass of pisco: by all accounts, Arturo has a real problem with alcohol, another reason likely the disenchantment of a conservative Ricardo Gareca who is less inclined to tease. From Sampaoli to Chiellini via Bravo, all those who have been around the animal agree that the lifestyle ofThe Warrior is not professional and tends to explain the numerous escapades of a player who often makes the headlines for his extra-sporting misfortunes. And experience and maturity don't seem to help anything: during the recent celebration of a completely ruined Flamengo title, the whimsical midfielder multiplied his drunken driving trips. The latest, although it has not yet been officially confirmed, concerns a complaint of alleged sexual assault outside a nightclub where Vidal and several of his teammates were enjoying a drunken evening. Brought to the station for a simple identity check, The King has not yet been charged but could face justice in the coming days.
Despite this umpteenth affair that sticks to him, Vidal has only one idea in mind, to raise The Red and pursue the dream of qualifying for the World Cup, which he already tasted in 2010 and 2014. Surprised by a call-up that he no longer expected, AV23 seemed to repent somewhat at a press conference on Tuesday, admitting to be “probably deceived in his statements towards the coach »but by reiterating all his thirst for victory: “The Peru match is going to be difficult and hot, it’s a Clásico. I'm going to give up my life to come away with the three points: it's going to be a war, but we're not afraid.”. Ricardo Gareca, under the influence of an ultimatum from his federation, will count on Arturo Vidal to help him save his head, he who would even consider appointing The King captain against Peru: this is good, the Chilean people are asking for just that.
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