EEven the best players have favorites. Chilean national team star and former Barcelona and Bayern Munich player Arturo Vidal has named the three best players he has seen throughout his career. But what was surprising was not the names he gave, but the order in which he arranged them.
Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo made the list, but so did his former Bayern teammate…and he’s ahead of CR7!
Vidal reveals his top 3 surprising soccer players
Appearing on the Enfocados podcast, Arturo did not hesitate to mention the Inter Miami captain and Al Nasr by name. However, he also added Franck Lively, with whom he shared the dressing room in Munich, to the list.
To the surprise of many, Vidal placed the Argentine star and his former Rose teammate in first place, then chose Livery over CR7 and Arjen Robben in ’10’.
“Next to Messi, one of the players who surprised me the most during training was Livry,” he said. “For me, Livery was better than Robben. They were different, but I liked Livery better. The three best players I have seen are Messi, Livery and finally Cristiano Ronaldo. In that order.”
Additionally, the 38-year-old Chilean star reflected on his match against the 41-year-old Portuguese player. He played against him for club and national team, winning three times and losing four times.
Without a doubt, Vidal’s most painful losses were the 2017 Confederations Cup semi-final and, of course, the 2016/17 Champions League quarter-final between Bayern and Real Madrid. Vidal claimed that he felt “robbed” by some referees in several matches against Los Merengues, and said that VAR (Video Assistant Referee) was created for this kind of situation for the white team.
“We felt we were being robbed by Real Madrid. They eliminated us in the two games against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, in the quarter-finals and in the semi-finals. It’s Real Madrid’s fault that VAR was introduced. Before that, there was simply too much cheating. That’s why they invented VAR, so that they wouldn’t rob us anymore,” said the former Juventus and Inter Milan player.
Meanwhile, Vidal also addressed his future, guaranteeing that he does not rule out the possibility of continuing to play not only in the world of football, but also from the other side of the field.
“I want to continue and coach a team soon. I want to be a coach. I want to stay connected with this job that I love…I want to help young people here in Chile, teach them and help them pursue the same career as me,” he said.
