Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sánchez is a Chilean footballer who plays for Arsenal and the Chilean
national team as a forward. After his debut season of first-team football
with Cobreloa, Sánchez was signed by Italy's Udinese Calcio in 2006. After successful loans
at Colo-Colo and River Plate, he began playing in Serie A. In 2011, he was signed by Barcelona
for US$43 million, becoming the most expensive transfer in Chilean football history.
He has been a full international for Chile since 2006, earning over 70 caps and playing
in two FIFA World Cups and the 2011 Copa América.
Club career Early life and career
After an impressive season, on 21 April 2006 Sánchez caught the attention of Udinese who
bought him for a US$3 million fee. However, Udinese began a maturation project with Alexis
and loaned him to Chilean powerhouse Colo-Colo in a season-long deal.
Loan spells
Alexis' first game for Colo-Colo was on 23 June 2006 in a 1–1 draw with Antofagasta
and his first goal came during a Superclásico against Universidad de Chile in a 4–2 win
played at Estadio Monumental on 29 October. His strong performances allowed him break
into the team's starting lineup after successfully challenging Mario Cáceres for the position
of striker and began partnering Humberto Suazo in attack. On 1 November, he scored his first
brace at Pedreros in a 4–4 draw with Deportes La Serena.
Sánchez won his first professional title in Colo-Colo after earn Torneo Apertura 2006,
and also scored his first goal in an international contest after score in the 7–2 thrashing
of LD Alajuelense for the Copa Sudamericana. After the FIFA U-20 World Cup, Sánchez was
loaned to River Plate in 2007, winning the league title one year later.
Udinese After a successful season in Argentina, Sánchez
left South America in July 2008 to officially join Udinese, where he would meet up with
Chilean compatriot Mauricio Isla. Sánchez made his non-competitive debut in a 3–0
win over Bassano and was named the man of match. On 14 September, he played his first
game in Serie A in a 1–0 loss with Juventus and four days later, he made his European
debut against Borussia Dortmund. On 19 October 2008, Sánchez scored his first league goal
against Lecce. After this first goal, Sánchez got into a minor slump, in which he took much
criticism. The criticism ended after scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute against
Bologna in a 1–0 win, being named the man of match.
In the following season, Sánchez played an important role for Udinese in Coppa Italia
2009–10, being a key player in the team that eliminated Milan, assisting Gökhan Inler
for the winning goal. In the semi-final second leg, Sánchez was the man of match after playing
a successful game against Roma, including scoring his first Coppa Italia goal in the
81st minute. It was not enough, however, as the aggregate score was 2–1 in favor of
Roma. By the end of this year, Sánchez scored a total of five goals in 32 appearances.
On 27 February 2011, Sánchez scored four of seven goals as his team defeated Palermo
7–0, playing only the first 52 minutes of the game. This event meant he broke the record
of goals scored by a Chilean player in the Italian Serie A, thus beating the records
set by his historic countrymen Marcelo Salas and Iván Zamorano.
During his successful season at Udinese, Sánchez and Italian striker Antonio Di Natale became
one of the best scoring duos in Serie A tallying 39 goals between then, two goals short of
the Del Piero–Trezeguet duo that completed 41 goals in the 2007–08 season. In recognition
of his achievements he was named the world's most promising youngster of the 2011 season,
by the users of FIFA.com, where users had to choose between Sánchez, Gareth Bale, Javier
Pastore, Ganso and Neymar in a poll. Sánchez ranked 56th in the May 2011 edition of Castrol
Performance Index and 24th among the forwards. Barcelona
On 20 July 2011, FC Barcelona confirmed they had agreed a €26 million fee with Udinese
for the transfer of Sánchez, thus becoming the first Chilean to ever play for the club.
"Sánchez is very young," said manager Pep Guardiola. "He can play in all three attacking
positions, he shows intense defensive skills, he's direct and from what I've been told,
he's a very nice kid." The transfer was finalised five days later when he passed a medical and
signed a five-year contract. "I want to learn from players like Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernández—and
I want to help the club win more titles," said Sánchez.
His debut season for Barcelona was mired with short-term injuries. Sanchez made his debut
on 14 August 2011 against arch rivals Real Madrid in the 2012 Supercopa de España first
leg away match, and had a thigh injury after a challenge by Marcelo. Barcelona won the
tie 5–4 on aggregate. He made his return two weeks later as a substitute in the 2011
UEFA Super Cup, won by Barca 2–0. Alexis then started the opening match of La Liga,
at home against Villarreal CF, and scored his first goal in a 5–0 win. A week later,
on 10 September 2011, he was stretchered off after 30 minutes following a challenge from
Dani Estrada in a La Liga match against Real Sociedad. Sánchez returned on 1 November
2011 in an away match against Viktoria Plzeň. On 10 December 2011, he scored Barcelona's
equaliser against Real Madrid in a match they went on to win 1–3.
On 14 February 2012, Sánchez scored the first and second UEFA Champions League goals of
his career in Barcelona's 3–1 victory against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. On 2 October he scored
the first goal for Barcelona in a 0–2 win against S.L. Benfica.
On 10 February 2013, Sánchez scored his first goal of the 2012–13 La Liga season in Barça's
6–1 home win against Getafe CF. From February onwards, Sánchez scored in matches against
Deportivo de La Coruña, Real Mallorca, Athletic Club, Real Betis, Atlético de Madrid and
RCD Espanyol to end the season with eight league goals. Barcelona won the league title,
ending the season with 100 points. On 26 October 2013, Sánchez scored the winning
goal as Barça beat Real Madrid 2–1 at Camp Nou in the first Clásico fixture of the 2013–14
La Liga season. On 5 January 2014, Sánchez scored his first hat-trick for Barcelona in
a 4–0 win against Elche CF. He ended the 2013–14 season with a career best 21 goals
in all competitions, including 19 in La Liga. Arsenal
On 10 July 2014, Sánchez signed for Arsenal from Barcelona on a long-term contract for
a fee in the region of £35 million. Sánchez was given squad number 17, previously worn
by Nacho Monreal, who took the vacant number 18 instead.
International career
Sánchez made his international debut for the Chile national team against New Zealand
on 27 April 2006. He was called up by the coach José Sulantay to represent the Chilean
under-20 team at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Canada, where they finished third.
After his participation in the youth championship, Sánchez scored his first senior international
goal in a 2–1 loss against Switzerland on 7 September 2007. He scored three times during
La Roja's successful 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign and appeared on every match during
the tournament finals. He then participated in the 2011 Copa América, scoring once in
a 1–1 group stage draw with Uruguay. Sánchez scored four times in Chile's qualification
campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 15 November 2013, Sánchez scored both
goals as Chile beat England 2–0 at Wembley Stadium, repeating the achievement of national
team legend Marcelo Salas in 1998. On 13 June 2014, Sánchez scored Chile's opening
goal of the 2014 World Cup in a 3–1 defeat of Australia in Cuiabá. During the round
of 16, Sánchez scored the equalising goal in a 1–1 draw against the host Brazil. However,
he was one of three Chileans to fail to convert their kicks in the penalty shootout, having
his shot saved by Júlio César as the Seleção prevailed 3–2.
Career statistics Club
1Includes continental competitive competitions, including the Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana
and UEFA Champions League.
2Includes other competitive competitions, including the FIFA Club World Cup, Supercopa
de España and UEFA Super Cup. Statistics accurate as of match played 17
May 2014 International
As of 28 June 2014 International goals
Score and Result lists Chile's goals first Honours
Club Colo-Colo
Chilean Primera División: 2006 Clausura, 2007 Apertura
River Plate Primera División de Argentina: 2008 Clausura
Barcelona La Liga: 2012–13
Copa del Rey: 2011–12 Supercopa de España: 2011, 2013
UEFA Super Cup: 2011 FIFA Club World Cup: 2011
International FIFA U-20 World Cup: Third place 2007
Individual Serie A Player of the Month: February 2011
References
External links FC Barcelona profile
La Liga profile 2010 FIFA World Cup profile
Alexis Sánchez at National-Football-Teams.com Alexis Sánchez – FIFA competition record
Alexis Sánchez – UEFA competition record