Vidal wants no repeat of Medel madness in Chile´s Confederations Cup challenge

Arturo Vidal has warned Chile that they cannot afford a repeat of Gary Medel’s red card against Romania when they begin their Confederations Cup campaign on Sunday.

The Copa America holders had looked in good form in the early stages of their final pre-tournament friendly on Tuesday, with Eduardo Vargas and Leonardo Valencia putting them 2-0 up in Cluj-Napoca after 18 minutes.

However, Bogdan Stanciu halved the deficit before Medel was sent off just two minutes later for kicking out at Florin Andone, and 10-man Chile ultimately surrendered their lead as Nicolae Stanciu and Alexandru Baluta secured a 3-2 win.

With Chile having been held to a 1-1 draw by Confederations Cup hosts Russia four days earlier, Vidal has called on his team-mates to ensure that they show a more professional approach when they take on Cameroon in their opening Group B game.

“Medel’s sending off? In current football, you can’t give those advantages. We hope that these things don’t happen in the Confederations Cup,” said the Bayern Munich midfielder.

“That’s why there are these friendlies: to improve, to make mistakes and then, in the important games, not to do things wrong.

“There are a lot of things to improve but it’s difficult to say. We have to see another type of game [from us], but we have time. There are five days to try to lift our heads. 

“The important thing was that all the players had minutes so that they can reach the Confederations Cup in their best condition.”