In January 2011, Bielsa left abruptly stepped down as coach following differences with the federation, but Valdivia continued being considered in "La Roja" by Claudio Borghi, his former coach when he played in Colo-Colo. In June, he was included in the 23-man list to face the Copa América. He made three starts of Chile's four games in the competition, which they were eliminated in quarterfinals by Venezuela (where Valdivia had a crossbar), rival which only one-time Chile lost in its history. However, Valdivia was included in the team of the tournament. Months later in December 2011 before a 2014 World Cup qualifying game with Uruguay in Montevideo, he was involved in another scandal alongside Jean Beausejour, Gonzalo Jara, Arturo Vidal and Carlos Carmona after arriving 45 minutes later and intoxicated to the team's concentration at . They subsequently received a 10-game ban and Valdivia once finished the punishment it wasn't be considered by Borghi during the qualifiers and friendlies.