Jorge Valdivia

Jorge Luis Valdivia Toro is a Chilean footballer who was born on October 19, 1983 in Maracay, Venezuela. His parents were Chilean nationals and they returned back to Chile after his birth, hence he plays for Chile. He plays as a midfielder in his team, but performs well even at the Left wing and Right wing positions.

Background

Jorge Valdivia developed a taste for football in his early days and consequently joined the Colo-Colo Football Academy in 1993. He was really good at passing the ball and is often called El Mago among his peers.

Debut

Jorge made his first international appearance at the 2003 South American Youth Championship where he played for Chile U20 team. The tournament went pathetic for Chile and they finished last with Jorge making only a couple of appearances with negligible contribution in the games.

Rise to Glory

Jorge became a well known player after he played for Chile U23 in the 2004 Pre-Olympic Tournament with a number of memorable performances. He earned the respect of his senior players making 7 appearances in the tournament.

He made his senior team debut against Mexico later in 2004 but he only managed to get a satisfactory performance. In fact, he had to wait for two years to get his first international goal. It came against Paraguay in which Chile emerged victorious by a score of 3-2. Until now, he has 7 international goals to his name in 79 appearances.

He also played a crucial role in qualification of Chile in the 2010 FIFA World Cup after they beat Columbia 4-2.

His play was on the top while in the 2015 Copa America. His excellence at the sport proved out to be crucial to Chile as they managed to get their first ever senior team title. Jorge was at the centre of matches played and numerous assists in goals made him a remarkable player in the tournament.

Low Points

Although Jorge Valdivia is good at football, he has been involved in controversial issues many times in his career. In the 2007 Copa America tournament, he went on a spree with his peers and they all received a ban of 20 matches. They faced even more criticism as Chile lost to Brazil 1-6 immediately after the incident.

A similar issue popped up during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifications where he and his teammates arrived late for a match and that too, in a drunk state. They all received a 10 match ban for the incident. Various Yellow and Red Card incidences have also been around his name since he made into the senior team.

Club Career

Jorge started his club career with his academy team Colo-Colo and scored 14 goals in 40 matches over a span of 3 years. During this time, he was also loaned to other clubs where he impressed everyone with his skills. He was a member of the club when they won the 2006 Torneo Apertura tournament.

2008 was a magnificent year for Jorge as he won various trophies for his clubs Palmeira (Campeonato Paulista) and Al Ain (UAE President Cup, Super Cup and Emirates Cup).

In 2010, Jorge returned back to Palmeira and helped them win the Copa do Brasil twice, in 2012 and 2015 along with the Serie B victory in 2013.

He returned to his home club Colo-Colo in 2017 and has won the Supercopa de Chile twice in a row, in 2017 and 2018. He is currently in a great form and is unlikely to change sides anytime soon.