Arturo Vidal, midfielder for Bayern Munich and Chile, has announced his retirement from the national team, reports Sky Sports.
The news comes after Chile suffered a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in their final World Cup qualifier – a game he missed through suspension. In his absence, the South American outfit were thrashed at the Allianz Parque and finished one point off the playoffs places in Round 1.
Gracias por todo muchachos!!😢😢 pic.twitter.com/I9s9OhTK7r
— Arturo Vidal (@kingarturo23) October 11, 2017
“Thank you lads, for everything, for all these years together… for teaching me and for showing a country that with effort and work anything is possible in life,” read Vidal’s message in Spanish on Twitter.
It was a bad way for Vidal to end his international career, having made 95 appearances for Chile, scoring 23 goals. He made his debut for the country in February 2007, in a 1-0 win away to Venezuela.
Vidal came off the bench in injury time in that game and would go on to be an influential player in a Chile side that won two Copa Americas in 2014/15 and 2015/16. But the country’s performance on Tuesday wasn’t anything to be proud of.
Chile were goalless with Brazil at half-time, but eventually went down to a Barcelona midfielder Paulinho before the hour mark and a brace from Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus.
Chile’s manager Juan Antonio Pizzi also announced his retirement after Tuesday’s result. The defeat left the country sixth in the table with 26 points from 18 games, having picked up just eight wins (44%), while suffering as many defeats.
Of the 10 sides in Round 1, only three clubs in the table lost more games than Pizzi’s side, and only three teams conceded more goals for their troubles.
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