The renowned Chilean midfielder and star of Atlético Paranaense, Arturo Vidal, continues to recover from the knee injury he suffered during the second round of qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Despite this, the player remains active through social media and his streams on the Twitch platform.
During his most recent livestream, the player decided to speak in defense of Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently in a great moment with Al-Nassr after overcoming a rough patch at Manchester United in the Premier League. In his statements, Vidal affirmed that these results are due to the actions taken by coach Erik Ten Hag and compared them to his own experience under the orders of Jorge Sampaoli at Flamengo in Brazil.
“That coach made a mistake. How can you bench Cristiano Ronaldo? That’s how these guys are. That’s why sometimes the coaches who arrive make a huge mess. Terrible. I don’t know what they’re thinking. To bench Cristiano? He was the top scorer and they bench him. Bald guys are very complicated,” the Chilean expressed when questioned by one of his followers during the livestream.
Arturo Vidal also supported Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to leave English football and sign with Al-Nassr, stating that it was the best decision he could make for his career. This is because he was able to regain the starting position he had lost under Ten Hag and it has also allowed him to demonstrate that at his age, he remains one of the most important footballers in the world by continuing to break personal records. He recently won his first title with the team in Saudi Arabia.
Vidal highlighted that he is working as best as possible in his rehabilitation process in order to return to the field as soon as possible and continue supporting his team in their quest for the Brazilian football title.
“Many times, I rushed to play for my teams and my country. Today, we are doing things right, we will take the necessary time, and I will come back stronger than ever,” he emphasized in a video shared on Atlético Paranaense’s Instagram social network.