Arturo Vidal and the inside story of the accident in which he wrecked his Ferrari while drunk: "It changed my way of thinking and living."
Chilean international Arturo Vidal admitted that the car accident he suffered during the 2015 Copa América in Chile, while drunk and driving his new Ferrari , was a turning point in his career and changed his life.
Ten years after that episode, the former FC Barcelona player has stated on his program El Reinado, broadcast on the audiovisual platform YouTube, that the support of the fans and the president of the Chilean Federation, the controversial Sergio Jadue, was key in his sporting career.
"Going from a situation where anything could have happened to me or Marité (his partner) at the time, to playing two days later isn't easy, but the fans showed me affection; yes, many didn't like it, but a lot of people supported me at the time ," said the midfielder, who was then playing for Juventus in Italy.
"That was the moment when the hunger and confidence that this trophy had to stay here grew. I've learned a lot from my mistakes, and that was one of the toughest moments of my career. On top of that, being in the national team, fighting for something we all thought had to stay here, and something like this happens to me... that something worse could have happened to me , that they would have taken me from there, from my team, and my career would have been over. So many thoughts," he added.
Vidal, currently captain of Colo Colo, crashed his vehicle on a highway near Santiago de Chile on his day off after the first match of the 2015 Copa América against Mexico (3-3), and was arrested by officers from the Chilean Carabineros.
But the Chilean federation's efforts with the police authorities and even an appeal to the government (then headed by Michelle Bachelet) led to his pardon and reinstatement to La Roja, which won its first continental title in that tournament.
According to journalist Christian González in an extensive report in the newspaper La Tercera, the controversial Jadue, later the main person involved in the global corruption case known as 'FIFAgate', even called La Moneda Palace (the headquarters of the Chilean government) to request Vidal's pardon .
A maneuver to try to clean up the image of the footballer, whom the then national team coach, Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, wanted to expel, and which Jadue plotted with the player's representative, Fernando Felicevich, which included a memorable press conference in which he was tearfully asked to apologize.
Ten years later, Vidal recalled that two days later he regained "the affection of the people in the stadium and it was wonderful."
" It changed my way of thinking and living a lot ; that's why I've always been grateful for the national team and I'll always be there for all those details," emphasized the Cacique midfielder, who started in the starting lineup in the next match of the 2015 Copa América, against Bolivia.
Chile would end up winning that Copa América, the first in its history, in a penalty shootout against Argentina.
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