Even the most outstanding players have their favorite players. Arturo Vidal, star of the Chilean national team and former Barcelona and Bayern Munich player, has named the three best players he has seen throughout his career. However, what was surprising was not the names he gave, but the order in which he placed them.
Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo made the list, but so did a former Bayern teammate… and he’s ahead of CR7!
Vidal revealed his surprising top three soccer players
During an appearance on the Enfocados podcast, Arturo did not hesitate to name the captain of Inter Miami and Al Nassr. However, he also added Franck Ribéry, with whom he shared a locker room in Munich, to the list.
To the surprise of many, Vidal placed the Argentine star and his former Barça teammate in first place and, followed by the ’10’, he preferred Ribéry over CR7 and Arjen Robben:
“After Messi, one of the players who most surprised me in training was Ribéry,” he said. “For me, Ribéry was better than Robben. They were different, but I preferred Ribéry. The three best players I’ve seen are Messi, Ribéry, and lastly Cristiano Ronaldo. In that order.”
In addition, the 38-year-old Chilean star recalled his matches against the 41-year-old Portuguese player. He faced him with his club and his national team, winning three times and losing four times.
Without a doubt, the most painful defeats for Vidal were the Confederations Cup semifinal in 2017 and, of course, the two Champions League quarterfinal matches between Bayern and Real Madrid in 2016/17. Claiming that he felt “robbed” by some referees in several matches against Los Merengues, Vidal stated that VAR (Video Assistant Referee) was created for this type of situation with the White franchise:
“I’ve felt robbed by Real Madrid. In two games with Bayern Munich in the Champions League, in the quarterfinals and semifinals, when they eliminated us. VAR was introduced because of Real Madrid. Before that, there were simply too many cheats. That’s why they invented VAR, so they wouldn’t rob anymore,” said the former Juventus and Inter Milan player.
Meanwhile, Vidal also referred to his future, assuring that he does not rule out the possibility of continuing in the world of soccer, but from the other side of the field:
“I want to continue and quickly take on a team. I would very much like to be a coach. I want to stay connected to this that I love… I would like to help young people here in Chile, teach them and help them pursue the career that I did,” he said.
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