Jorge Valdívia

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Valdívia and the second or maternal family name is Toro.

Jorge Valdivia

Personal information
Full name	Jorge Luis Valdivia Toro
Date of birth	October 19, 1983 (1983-10-19)
Place of birth	Maracay, Venezuela
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Palmeiras
Number	10
Youth career
1990–2001	Colo-Colo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2006	Colo-Colo	40	(14)
2003	→ U. de Concepción (loan)	30	(7)
2004	→ Rayo Vallecano (loan)	5	(1)
2004–2005	→ Servette (loan)	9	(2)
2006–2008	Palmeiras	68	(13)
2008–2010	Al Ain	36	(20)
2010–	Palmeiras	41	(6)
National team‡
2004–	Chile	51	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:30, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Jorge Luis Valdivia Toro (born 19 October 1983) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Brazilian Série A club Palmeiras and the Chilean national team.

Valdivia's career began when he signed a professional contract with Colo-Colo, but for indiscipline problems, he was loaned to Universidad de Concepción, making his first-team debut in 2003 aged 20. Shortly after, Valdivia had a brief pass for Europe and then returned to Colo-Colo in 2005, devoting in the next season. He left his club Colo-Colo to sign for Palmeiras in 2006, where he remained for two seasons, clinching the Paulista championship in his final season with the club. In August 2008, it was announced that Valdivia would leave Palmeiras for the United Arab Emirates club Al Ain, signing a four-year contract with them on 8 August 2008. After the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he announced that he was to return to the Paulista club.

In international football, Valdivia made his Chile debut in 2004, at the age of 21. Because of his good performances in 2007, Valdivia was nominated for the Copa América of this year, shortly after protagonizated a scandal at the Concentración hotel in Puerto Ordaz with other teammates, being banned for 20 games by the ANFP. After his return to the national team, he was an undisputed starter in the squad of national coach Marcelo Bielsa, playing all games in the last part of the World Cup qualification and also the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Valdivia has one brother called Claudio, who was an integrant of the reality TV show Año 0 (Year 0) and is married with Chilean model Daniela Aránguiz, with whom he has two children: Agustina and Jorge Ignacio.

Club career

Early career

Born to Chilean parents in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Valdivia moved to his native country Chile at a young age, settling in the capital of Santiago. There, he would develop his football skills in the youth teams of Colo-Colo in 1990, aged 7. He was promoted to the first adult team in June 2002, but was loaned to Universidad de Concepción to get some first team experience and also for disciplinary problems.

Valdivia made his professional debut with U. de Concepción against his own club Colo-Colo, in a 1–1 draw. He immediately impressed in the club because of his skills, being a starter for the whole 2003 Apertura. He helped the club qualify for the Copa Sudamericana for first time in the team's history. After his good season with the Concepción club, also in the Clausura tournament, it was rumoured that he would return to Colo-Colo, but was loaned to the Spanish club Rayo Vallecano and then to Servette of the Axpo Super League.

Colo-Colo

After two seasons in Europe, Valdivia returned to Colo-Colo in 2005. In January of the same year, Boca Juniors pre-registered the player for a transfer fee of $1.5 million, but shortly after Colo-Colo decided to keep the player. On 13 March 2005, Valdivia made his official debut against Cobreloa in a 2–0 victory at Estadio Monumental David Arellano. He scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 3–2 away win over Unión San Felipe, scoring the victory goal at 89th minute. After a lack of opportunities during the Apertura tournament, for the Clausura, he was a high-profile player of Colo-Colo, being the club's top goalscorer with 9 goals in 16 appearances.

In the next season, with the arrival of Claudio Borghi as the coach, Valdivia was established as the playmaker of the club, having more continuity in the club. He was the key player for the club, making up a dynamic trio in the midfield with Matías Fernández and Gonzalo Fierro. On 16 April 2006, during the derby lost 3–2 against Universidad Católica, Jorge was a protagonist in a scandal during the game, because of controversies with the referee Rubén Marcos Selman. Finally, after 4 years, Valdivia and his skills helped Colo-Colo win the Chilean Primera División.

First spell at Palmeiras

On 5 August 2006, it was announced that Colo-Colo had a deal with Palmeiras for the move of Valdívia in a transfer fee of $3.5 million, the highest fee that the club had ever paid for a foreign player. He signed a three-year contract with the “Verdão”, earning $400,000 per year.

Valdivia made his unofficial debut in a pre-season friendly against Santo André that Palmeiras won 2–0. After the match, the club’s coach Tite affirmed that: “I have no doubt that Valdivia will have success in Brazil”. He played his first official match against Botafogo in a 3–1 Palmeira's victory at Estadio do Maracana. He had an irregular season with the club playing only 15 official matches, 1 unofficial match and not scoring any goals.

With the arrival of the coach Caio Júnior, Valdivia cemented his place in the starting line-up and he was given the number 10 shirt. On 16 January 2007, Valdívia scored his first goal against Rio Branco in a 2−1 victory. Against Corinthians in a 3−0 victory, he played a notable match providing three assists to Edmundo. After the match Caio Júnior said that: “Valdivia is the new star of Brazilian football after Tévez”. On 20 May 2007, he scored two consecutive goals against Figueirense in a Palmeira's victory 2–1. His notable performances for the club meant that he was called-up to the Copa América 2007 and played in the starting lineup during the Brasileirão.

On 3 December 2007, as the best player of the Brasileirão elections, Valdivia received the Craque do Brasileirão trophy. In the same month, Valdivia was selected in South América's best team and he was considered the best midfielder in South América according to the Uruguayan newspaper El País. On 21 January 2008, he received two more trophies for his participation in the Campeonato Brasilerão 2007. At elections for Mesa Redonda trophy, organized by TV Gazeta, he was selected the best midfielder of Brazilian football.

With the departure of Caio Júnior, Palmeiras hired Vanderlei Luxemburgo as the coach. Vanderlei signed players such as Henrique and Diego Souza, putting together a good team for the Campeonato Paulista 2008. The new coach wanted Valdivia to show more maturity, because of his indiscipline. On 16 February 2008, Valdivia scored his first goal in the Paulistão against Juventus in a 4–0 victory. Valdivia gave an excellent performance during the Campeonato Paulista, where his team were proclaimed champion of the tournament. He was the second top-scorer of the club with 9 goals behind Alex Pereira. After the title was obtained, Valdivia had many offers from Europe.

During the dispute of the Brasilerão 2008, he scored a goal against Cruzeiro in a 5–2 victory, which he dedicated to his wife, to celebrate St. Valentine's day in Brazil. On 3 August 2008, Valdivia scored 2 goals in the 2–1 victory against Ipatinga. Valdívia played his last match for Palmeiras against Botafogo for the Brasileirao. Following the rumours of his transfer to clubs such as Werder Bremen, Hertha BSC and Espanyol, he negotiated his move to Al Ain.

Al Ain

On 15 August 2008, Palmeiras announced that Valdívia had come to verbal agreements with Al Ain S.C.C. of the UAE Football League for a €8 million deal. He put pen to paper on a four-year deal until 2012, receiving a salary of €1.7 million per year. Shortly after, on 21 August, he joined the club in a pre-season match against Frankfurt, Germany.

Valdívia's first official game for Al Ain was against Al-Sharjah in a 4−2 victory. In the same match he scored his first official UAE League goal from a free kick. With this good performances for the club, he became a very loved player by the fans of Al Ain. On 1 December 2008, Valdivia was named the 14th most popular player in the world according to the IFFHS.

On 3 July 2009, Al Ain defeated the club's rival Al Wahda in a 1−0 victory, Valdivia won his first title with the club, the Etisalat Emirates Cup. Before this game, Valdivia had been recovering from an ankle injury, but in this match he returned to the field and gave an assist to Ahmed to score the winning goal in the 28th minute. On 9 July 2009, Valdivia had the possibility of playing for Manchester City, but the move never eventuated. He won his second title with the club, the President's Cup after winning in the final against Al Shabab in a 1−0 victory, with a penalty from André Dias.

In less than a year, Valdivia became the top idol of the club and was also the club's best seller of merchandise. In a survey on the club's web page, he was named the best player in the club's history. For this, the president of the club Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan offered the player a lifetime contract, but Valdívia refused to sign. On 15 September 2009, Valdivia was elected as the best player of the UAE Football League.

On 23 September 2009, the club won the UAE Super Cup, after winning on penalties to Al-Ahli Dubai 5−4, this title was the third for Valdivia at the club. In the season 2010, he was promoted to captain of the club. After the FIFA World Cup 2010, Valdivia negotiated his release from the club.

Return to Palmeiras

During the FIFA World Cup 2010, there were persistent reports of the possible return of Valdivia to Palmeiras, but he said that only a call was needed for him to return to the club. On 26 July, the club's president Luiz Gonzaga Belluzo confirmed Valdivia's return to the club, acquiring 100% of player rights in a five-years contract for a €16 million deal. On 14 August, Valdivia was presented at Estádio do Pacaembu, being greeted by 15.000 fans after a game against Atletico Paranaense.

On 22 August 2010, Valdivia made his second debut for the club against Guaraní in a 0–0 draw as a half-time substitute. After the match played against Guaraní, he was heavily criticized because of his irregular performances on the field, but he was still acclaimed by the fans. On 12 September, played his 100th match for Palmeiras in a 0–0 draw with Vasco da Gama, receiving an honour shortly after. On 5 September, in a match that he played against Cruzeiro, he was substituted in the 65th minute, he wasn't happy and he complained to his coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. On the substitutes bench, Valdivia threw a water bottle on the ground, showing his discontent with the coach's decision. After a game played against Vitória, he said that his attitude against Cruzeiro would not be repeated again, he formerly apologized to the Scolari. On 7 October, Valdivia scored two goals in Palmeira's victory 4–1 over Avaí at Pacaembu.

On 24 October 2010, Valdivia suffered an injury in a match against Corinthians that left him without playing during the last part of the season. In December, he refused to sign a "be careful" letter for holidays, when all players of the team accepted this letter. Valdivia before described this as a lack of respect for pressing it on their holidays and the directive of Palmeiras said that their criticisms were inappropriate and they don't want unhappy players at the club. During the summer of 2011, he received an offer from Fluminense to play in the Copa Libertadores, but he stayed despite this offer.

On 9 March 2011, Valdivia played a brilliant match against Noroeste for the Paulistão, scoring a free kick and then providing an assist for the club's victory goal to young player Vinicius in the 85th minute. During March, there were rumours of the possible sale of Valdívia to another club at the end of the season, but this rumour was denied on the 24th day of the month by Palmeiras's president Arnaldo Tirone. On 14 April he was caught urinating on the pitch in the Copa do Brasil quarterfinals first leg game against Santo André. In the second leg of the cup game that Palmeiras won 1−0, Valdivia played a notable game, being compared to Neymar according to the club's coach Felipão Scolari.

International career

First years with Acosta

His good performance on Palmeiras during the Campeonato Brasilerão 2007 made that he was selected in Chile's Copa América 2007 squad. He played in Chile's first game against Ecuador in a 3−2 victory. In Chile's third goal, an Ecuadorian player made him a foul to Valdivia and Carlos Villanueva scored the free kick win goal. In the second game of Chile against Brazil, he was injured by Elano and before he had a strong discussion with Robinho during the match. Because the injury, Valdivia missed the match against Mexico, but Chile qualificated to the quarter-finals once against Brazil. On 7 July 2007, celebrating the pass to quarter-finals, Valdivia, Reinaldo Navia, Álvaro Ormeño, Jorge Vargas, Rodrigo Tello and Pablo Contreras celebrating the qualification to the Quarter-finals, them staged a scandal in a hotel of Puerto Ordaz, abusing sexually to two waitresses according to Canal 13. After of this incident, he and the players that participated in the scandal was sancionated by the ANFP with 20 games, but shortly after the sanction was reducted to 10 games. However, Chile was eliminated by Brazil in a 6−1 loss.

Glorious return with Bielsa

On 5 August 2008, the coach Marcelo Bielsa confirmed that Valdivia returned officially to the national team for play a frendly match against Turkey. In this game, he come off the bench in the second half, however Chile was defeated by 1−0 with a goal of Hamit Altıntop. On 7 September 2008, he played his first game for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification against Brazil, during the match he received a red card in the 63rd minute, immediately he was acclaimed for the Brazilian fans, calling him: "Valdivia is brazilian." On 10 October 2009, in the 4−2 away win to Colombia for the qualifiers, Valdivia played an important rol during the match, scoring the third goal of the national team and give the assistance in the fourth goal to Fabián Orellana, of this form Chile qualified to the FIFA World Cup 2010, after 12 years without appearances in this international tournament, being an historic fact in the history of the Chilean football.

During the preparatory games prior to the World Cup, Valdivia was a frequently in the eleven of the coach Marcelo Bielsa, on 26 May 2010, in match against Zambia national team that Chile won 3−0, he played a fundamental game, giving an assistance to Alexis Sánchez in Chile's third goal and scoring the third goal of his national team in the game. Valdívia was nominated to the 23-man roster that Chile represent in the Group H of the World Cup. On 16 June, Valdivia made his World Cup debut as Striker, because the injury of Humberto Suazo, in a 1−0 win over Honduras with a goal of Jean Beausejour. During the second half of game, he received a strong kick of a Honduran player, leaving him doubtful for next match against Switzerland.

Controversial status with Borghi

After an abrupt departure of Marcelo Bielsa, the coach Claudio Borghi took over the charge in the national team.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 November 2006	Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar	Paraguay	3–2	Win	Friendly match
2.	11 February 2009	Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane	South Africa	2–0	Win	Friendly match
3.	10 October 2009	Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellin	Colombia	4–2	Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	26 May 2010	Estadio Municipal de Calama, Calama	Zambia	3–0	Win	Friendly match

Honours

Club

Colo-Colo

• Chilean Primera División: 2006 Apertura

Palmeiras

• Campeonato Paulista: 2008

Al Ain

• Etisalat Emirates Cup: 2008
• UAE President Cup: 2008-09
• UAE Super Cup: 2009

Individual

• Prêmio Craque do Brasileirão: 2007
• Bola de Ouro: 2007
• Troféu Mesa Redonda: 2007
• Campeonato Paulista Most Valuable Player: 2007, 2008
• UFL Most Valuable Player: 2009
• UFL Most Valuable Foreign Player: 2009
• Star team of 2011 Copa América: 2011

External links

• Magovaldivia.com
• Palmeiras.globo.com
• CBF
• Guardian Stats Centre
• Zerozero.pt