Héctor Arturo Sanhueza Medel (born 11 March 1979), known as Arturo Sanhueza, is a Chilean former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is currently the assistant coach in

Deportes La Serena Club de Deportes La Serena S.A.D.P., is a Chilean football club based in the city of La Serena, Coquimbo Region. The club was founded 9 December 1955 and plays in the first division of the Chilean football league. Their home games are played ...

Club career

Born in Concepción, Bío-Bío Region, Sanhueza started his career at hometown club

Fernández Vial Fernández () is a Spanish surname meaning "son of Fernando". The Germanic name that it derives from ( Gothic: ''Frið-nanð'') means "brave traveler." The Portuguese version of this surname is Fernandes. The Arabized version is ''Ibn Faranda'' ...

before moving to Everton, where he would spend an entire season. After

Vina del Mar Vina may refer to: People * Émilie Vina (born 1982), French cross-country skier * Ionuț Vînă (born 1995), Romanian footballer * Vina Bovy (1900–1983), Belgian operatic soprano * Vina Mazumdar (1927–2013), Indian academic and feminist ...

team's relegation, he moved to crosstown rivals

Santiago Wanderers Club de Deportes Santiago Wanderers is a football club based in Valparaíso, a founding member of the Chilean Football Federation. Their home ground, Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, is in the north-west of the city. Wanderers have played their ...

, led by

Jorge Garcés Jorge Luis Garcés Rojas (born 13 May 1954) is a Chilean football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Manager Garcés was born in Talca. He started his managerial career in 1989 with RFC Arquennes. In 1992, he won the Pr ...

, where he helped to win the 2001 league title. Following three seasons at

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

-based team, in 2005, he signed for Chilean powerhouse

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

after rejecting an offer from Mexico's Atlante. As an anecdote, in 2005 he took part of the

reality TV show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

''Adidas Selection Team'' from

Fox Sports Chile {{Infobox television channel , name = Fox Sports , logo = FOX Sports logo.svg , logo_size = 200px , network = Fox Sports , launch_date = 11 November 2013 , closed_date = 31 December 2019 , picture_format ...

, where a squad made up by youth players from professional teams faced players from schools, standing out future professional footballers such as Felipe Seymour, Nelson Saavedra,

Eduardo Vargas Eduardo Jesús Vargas Rojas (; born 20 November 1989) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Brazilian Série A club Atlético Mineiro and the Chile national team. Emerging as a top talent at Cobreloa, Vargas moved ...

, among others. Nevertheless, with Claudio Borghi arrival to the bench, Sanhueza became an undisputed player in the

Apertura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

and

Clausura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

titles as well as in the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

which Colo-Colo was runner-up. In December 2006, he was heavily linked with Argentinian giants

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in th ...

which wanted to sign him for replace

Fernando Gago Fernando Rubén Gago (; born 10 April 1986) is an Argentine professional former player and football manager of Racing Club. During his 16-year club career, limited by multiple serious injuries, Gago played as a defensive midfielder and deep-lyi ...

, who left Boca for

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. After another four seasons playing for Colo-Colo where he won four league titles as captain, in December 2010 he wasn't considered by coach

Diego Cagna Diego Sebastián Cagna (born 19 April 1970) is an Argentine football coach and former player who played as midfielder. Club career Cagna was born in Buenos Aires. His first professional first division match was in December 1988, with Argentinos ...

and the club held a farewell for him during a press conference. In 2011 Sanhueza moved to

Deportes Iquique Club de Deportes Iquique S.A.D.P. is a Chilean football club based in Iquique that is a current member of the Primera B. Founded in 1978, the club's home stadium is the Estadio Tierra de Campeones, which has a 13,171 capacity. Iquique has spent ...

, freshly promoted to the top division after failing to join

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

side

Changchun Yatai F.C. Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changchun, Jilin and their home stadi ...

, being only 20 days in this country. Following a season and half, in June 2012 he signed for

Universidad de Concepción Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

. However, after only six months playing, in December he announced his retirement from football. On 8 January 2013, Sanhueza reversed his decision to retire and joined Primera B club Deportes Temuco. Three years later he, as captain, achieved the 2015–16 second-tier title and thereby the promotion to Primera División. Nevertheless he left Temuco and joined

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a Chilean football professional club based in Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. That competes in the Primera B. The club's home ground is the Estadio Zorros d ...

, Chilean powerhouse team which lost the category in 2015 and failed to achieve the promotion to first-tier. At the end of 2022 season, he retired from the football activity as a professional player after a twenty-five-year career.

Post-retirement

In April 2023, Sanhueza joined amateur club Colo Colito from Concepción, at the same time he performs as a

football commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

at radio level. In 2024, he joined the technical staff of in

as assistant coach.

Honours

Santiago Wanderers * Primera División:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

Colo-Colo * Primera División (6): 2006-A, 2006-C, 2007-A, 2007-C, 2008-C, 2009-C *

: Runner–up

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

Deportes Temuco * Primera B: 2015–16 Individual * Campeonato Nacional Team of the Season (3): 2006,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

External links

* *
Arturo Sanhueza
at Football-Lineups
Arturo Sanhueza
at MemoriaWanderers.cl {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanhueza, Arturo 1979 births Living people Footballers from Concepción, Chile Chilean men's footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Chile men's international footballers 2007 Copa América players Primera B de Chile players Segunda División Profesional de Chile players C.D. Arturo Fernández Vial footballers Deportes Temuco footballers C.D. Cobreloa footballers Chilean Primera División players Colo-Colo footballers Everton de Viña del Mar footballers Santiago Wanderers footballers Deportes Iquique footballers C.D. Universidad de Concepción footballers Chinese Super League players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Chilean expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in China Men's association football midfielders Doping cases in association football Chilean association football commentators Chilean football managers