Five of his brothers played for Magallanes, and he started there himself before moving to Unión Española in 1969 for the decade that defined him; Chile picked him at left-back for all three group matches at the 1974 World Cup. Unión Española took the Chilean title three times with him at left-back, in 1973, 1975 and 1977, and reached the 1975 Copa Libertadores final, where Independiente beat them in a playoff after Unión had won the first leg 1-0.
Chile legends whose careers overlapped Arias's
One rank above: Mauricio Isla at #21.
One rank below: Enrique Hormazábal at #23.
Chile's editorial top five: Elías Figueroa · Alexis Sánchez · Iván Zamorano · Arturo Vidal · Claudio Bravo.