Fabián Ariel Orellana Valenzuela won the first title of his career in 2016, when Chile won the Copa América Centenario in the United States. Born on 27 January 1986 in San Joaquín, a district of Santiago, Orellana was a quick, small winger. He came through at Audax Italiano and spent most of his career in Spain, where he played for Xerez, Granada, Celta de Vigo, Valencia, Eibar and Real Valladolid. He made 44 appearances for Chile between 2008 and 2021 and scored 2 goals.
From Colo-Colo to Audax Italiano
He started out in Colo-Colo's youth ranks. Because he was so short, the coaches played him at left-back, and the club released him as a teenager. He kept playing at El Pinar, a club in his home district, and from there joined the Audax Italiano academy. He made his first-team debut in 2005 and, over four seasons, played 117 league games and scored 27 goals. In the 2007 Clausura, Audax finished top of the regular phase and qualified for the 2008 Copa Libertadores.
Udinese, Xerez and Granada
Udinese signed him on 23 May 2009 for €3.2 million, but he never played a competitive match for the Italian club, which loaned him out straight away. His first stop was Xerez, then in the Spanish top flight, where he made 26 league appearances and scored 2 goals in 2009-10. In 2010 he joined Granada on loan in the Spanish second division. He scored seven league goals and one more in the play-offs, and Granada went up to La Liga in 2011. Granada then bought his rights from Udinese, but in the summer of 2011 they loaned him to Celta de Vigo with an option to buy.
Celta de Vigo
In 2011-12, his first season at Balaídos, Orellana scored 13 goals and Celta won promotion to La Liga. The club did not take up the option, so he went back to Granada. On 31 January 2013, Celta signed him permanently for €1.2 million on a three-and-a-half-year contract. His first top-flight goal for Celta came in November 2013, in a 3-1 win over Almería. In his second spell in Vigo, from 2013 to 2017, he played 120 league games and scored 19 goals. He left in January 2017 after a serious falling-out with head coach Eduardo Berizzo.
Valencia and Eibar
Valencia signed him on loan in January 2017 with an obligation to buy. In the second half of 2016-17 he made 16 league appearances and scored once, in a 2-1 win over Real Madrid. The permanent deal went through in the summer of 2017, but new coach Marcelino García Toral left him out of the squad. In December 2017 he agreed a loan move to Eibar. In April 2018 a clause was triggered and Eibar bought him for €2 million. From 2018 to 2020 he played 79 league games for the Basque club and scored 14 goals. In 2019-20 he scored eight goals and provided more assists than anyone else in the squad. His contract ran out on 30 June 2020.
Chile national team
He made his senior debut on 7 June 2008 in a goalless friendly against Panama in Valparaíso. On 15 October that year he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Argentina in Santiago, in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. On 10 October 2009 he scored Chile's last goal in a 4-2 win in Colombia, the result that sent them to South Africa. At the 2010 World Cup he played once, replacing Alexis Sánchez in a 2-1 group-stage defeat to Spain. Claudio Borghi stopped calling him up in 2012 after a disciplinary incident. He returned under Jorge Sampaoli in February 2013. He was in the squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but did not play. In 2016 he made two appearances at the Copa América Centenario, which Chile won by beating Argentina on penalties in the final.
Real Valladolid and Universidad Católica
On 20 July 2020 he signed a two-year deal with Real Valladolid. In 2020-21 he made 30 league appearances and scored 6 goals. In 2021 he terminated his contract and went back to Chile, joining Universidad Católica on 6 September 2021. There he won his first club trophies. The first was the 2021 Supercopa de Chile, which Católica won 7-6 on penalties against Ñublense on 18 November. The second was the 2021 Chilean Primera División, the club's fourth league title in a row. He played 20 league games for Católica and left when the 2022 season ended. In February 2023 he returned to Spain to play for xBuyer Team in the Kings League. In December 2024 he qualified as a football coach at INAF, Chile's national football institute.
