playername | Diego Forlán |
---|
fullname | Diego Forlán Corazo |
---|
dateofbirth | May 19, 1979 |
---|
cityofbirth | Montevideo |
---|
countryofbirth | Uruguay |
---|
height | |
---|
currentclub | Internazionale |
---|
clubnumber | 9 |
---|
position | Striker |
---|
youthyears1 | |youthclubs1 Peñarol |
---|
youthyears2 | |youthclubs2 Danubio |
---|
youthyears3 | |youthclubs3 Independiente |
---|
years1 | 1997–2001 |clubs1 Independiente |caps1 80 |goals1 37 |
---|
years2 | 2001–2004 |clubs2 Manchester United |caps2 63 |goals2 10 |
---|
years3 | 2004–2007 |clubs3 Villarreal |caps3 106 |goals3 54 |
---|
years4 | 2007–2011 |clubs4 Atlético Madrid |caps4 134 |goals4 74 |
---|
years5 | 2011– |clubs5 Internazionale |caps5 0 |goals5 0 |
---|
nationalyears1 | 2002– |nationalteam1 Uruguay |nationalcaps1 82 |nationalgoals1 31 |
---|
pcupdate | 19:50, 24 Jul 2011 (UTC) |
---|
ntupdate | 19:50, 24 Jul 2011 (UTC)
}} |
---|
Diego Forlán Corazo (; born 19 May 1979) is a
Uruguayan
footballer who plays as a striker for
Internazionale and the
Uruguayan national team. He is a two-time winner of both the
Pichichi Trophy and the
European Golden Shoe, and also received the Golden Ball as the best player at the
2010 World Cup.
Forlán was born into a family of footballers, his father Pablo having played for São Paulo (1970–1975) and Uruguay in the 1966 and 1974 World Cups and his grandfather, Juan Carlos Corazo, for Independiente in Argentina. Forlán joined Independiente after rising through their youth team, and after a successful four-year spell, he signed for Manchester United. Forlán's disappointing two-year stint in the Premier League saw him fail to achieve the form he held at Independiente, and he moved on to La Liga side Villarreal.
In his first season in Spanish football, Forlán scored 25 league goals and won the Pichichi Trophy. After two more successful seasons with Villarreal, Forlán joined Atlético Madrid, where he once again became the league's top scorer, and became the first player to win the Pichichi Trophy twice since Ronaldo achieved this feat in 2003–04.
Forlán also has a successful international career, having scored 31 times for his country. He scored once at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, and five times at the 2010 World Cup, in which he scored twice against the host nation South Africa, once against Ghana in the quarter-finals, once against the Netherlands in the semi-finals and once against Germany in the third place play-off. Despite scoring five goals, Forlan was beaten to the Golden Boot by Thomas Müller of Germany, as he also had 3 assists. David Villa of Spain won the Silver Boot. Wesley Sneijder of Holland won the Bronze Boot. Forlán was however recognized with the Golden Ball award, given to the best player at the tournament.
Club career
Early career
Born in
Montevideo, Forlán, son of former player and Uruguayan international
Pablo Forlán, was a promising
tennis player in his youth. But he decided to follow the family tradition and concentrate on football when his sister Alejandra was involved in a car accident, which killed her boyfriend and left her in intensive care for five months and handicapped thereafter. In 1995, when he was 16, Forlán was brought to
France by manager
László Bölöni, and spent several months on trial at
AS Nancy. However, the club opted against signing him, and Forlán returned to South America. He played for several
South American clubs, including
Argentine side
Independiente, where he made his name in football as a goalscorer. His goalscoring feats attracted the attention of European sides, and in January 2002 he signed for
Manchester United in the English
Premier League for a fee of
£6.9 million.
Manchester United
While Forlán's spell at Old Trafford was disappointing, he did enjoy the occasional purple patch of scoring. He had a knack for scoring important goals, such as the late equaliser at home to
Aston Villa and the remarkable volleyed winner in the last minutes of the home game against
Chelsea during United's Premier League-winning season of
2002–03. He became a fan favourite when he scored two goals against
Liverpool in a 2–1 victory at
Anfield. During this period, Forlán became known for removing his shirt and baring his torso in
celebration of his goals. The first such example of this resulted in quite an amusing incident: Forlán whipped his shirt off in excitement after scoring an 85th minute winner against
Southampton in November 2002 but struggled to get it back on in time before play restarted, resulting in the spectacle of Forlán briefly running around the
Old Trafford pitch bare-chested with his shirt still in his hand, before recovering the ball for his team. The referee soon stopped play and ordered Forlán off the pitch to get dressed.
Forlán's 17 goals in 95 appearances (goal every 5.5 games) for United did not compare favourably to his former teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy's 150 goals in 210 games (goal every 1.4 games), and it was widely thought Forlán would not start the 2004–05 season in the United team colours. That was proved true when he signed for Villarreal CF in August 2004, the same month Wayne Rooney joined United.
Villarreal
Forlán was strongly linked with a move to
Spanish clubs
Levante UD and
Athletic Bilbao (the latter as he is of
Basque descent), but on 21 August 2004 he signed with
Villarreal CF. At Villarreal, he became the
La Liga 2004–05 season
Pichichi Trophy winner with 25 goals in 38 appearances (goal every 1.5 games) and helped Villarreal to their first ever
UEFA Champions League spot. He also jointly won the
European Golden Boot award with
Thierry Henry. His form dipped in the 2005–06 season as Villarreal underwent several changes, but in 2006–07, he hit form again, ending the season with 19 goals in 36 appearances (goal every 1.9 games).
Atlético Madrid
2007–08 season
Forlán was linked with a transfer jointly with
Juan Román Riquelme to
Atlético Madrid in exchange for
Luis Perea plus cash in June 2007. On 30 June 2007, following the departure of their captain
Fernando Torres to Liverpool, Atlético Madrid confirmed that they had agreed to a fee of around
€21 million. He returned to England in February 2008 to take part in Atlético's
UEFA Cup clash against
Bolton Wanderers (the club against whom he made his Manchester United debut), but the side lost out 1–0 on aggregate. In May 2008, Forlán helped Atlético qualify for the
Champions League for the first time in over a decade, scoring the winning goal against
Deportivo La Coruña. He ended his first season in Madrid with 23 goals, and formed a potent partnership with Argentinian striker
Sergio Agüero.
2008–09 season
On 9 May 2009, Forlán scored twice against
Espanyol to help Atlético clinch Champions League qualification for a second successive year. Los Rojiblancos were trailing 2–0 at half-time and had seen Luis Perea sent off, but came back to win 3–2 thanks to a goal of the season contender from Forlán, as well as a
last minute winner. He also scored crucial goals in wins over
Barcelona,
Villarreal and
Valencia. On 23 May 2009, Forlán scored a
hat-trick against
Athletic Bilbao, which helped him win the La Liga Pichichi Trophy award, as well as the
European Golden Boot for a second time. He ended the 2008–09 season with a very impressive 32 goals in 33 matches (essentially a goal per game).
2009–10 season
Forlán started the 2009–10 season slowly, and struggled for form as Atlético made their worst start to a league season since their relegation in 2000. On 24 October 2009, Forlán scored a penalty and missed another as Atlético were held to a 1–1 draw at home against
Mallorca, who had played the majority of the second half with just nine players on the field. The disappointing result and performance led to protests from Atlético supporters, as well as criticism for Forlán, who was subsequently left out of the squad for the next game. Atlético started to improve after the arrival new manager
Quique Sánchez Flores, and once again, Forlán flourished in the second half of the season, as Atlético reached the finals of both the
Europa League and
Copa del Rey. On 14 February 2010, Forlán scored the first goal as Atlético beat Barcelona 2–1 at the
Vicente Calderón, inflicting the eventual Champions only league defeat of the season. On 22 April 2010, Forlán scored the only goal of the game in Atlético's Europa League semi-final first leg at home to
Liverpool. A week later, Liverpool took the tie to extra time before taking a 2–1 aggregate lead. Forlán then scored again to make it 2–2 on aggregate, giving Atlético the away goal they needed to reach the final, in which they played against
Fulham at
Volksparkstadion on 12 May.
Forlán scored twice against Fulham in the
final, in a 2–1 win and was awarded man of the match. He ended the season with a total of 28 goals, including six in Atlético's successful Europa League campaign.
2010–11 season
The
2010–11 season began with another trophy for Forlán and Atlético, winning the
UEFA Super Cup, beating
Internazionale 2–0 in
Monaco on 27 August 2010. Again Forlán started the season slowly, and despite finding the net three times in the opening two league games, he then went 12 matches in all competitions without a goal before finally scoring a double in a 3–0 win against
Osasuna on 13 November. He speculated
Beşiktaş,
Real Madrid and American club
Seattle Sounders attempted to sign him in the January transfer window.
Internazionale
On 29 August 2011 it was confirmed that Diego Forlán had joined
Internazionale following the departure of
Samuel Eto'o.
International career
Forlán made his debut for
Uruguay on 27 March 2002, scoring his first goal in a 2–3 friendly defeat against
Saudi Arabia. During the
2002 World Cup, he scored a volley on 11 June 2002 in the group stage 3–3 draw against
Senegal. Despite coming from three goals down to draw the game, Uruguay were eliminated from the tournament along with
France in
Group A. He also scored against
Brazil in the 35th minute of the
2007 Copa América semi-final. However, he missed his shot during the subsequent penalty shoot-out, which Brazil ultimately won 5–4. Since the 2007 Copa America, Forlán has become a regular for Uruguay, often in the starting XI. On 17 June 2008, he scored a hat-trick in a
World Cup qualifying game against
Peru.
Diego Forlán and Youri Djorkaeff were, respectively, members of the Uruguay and France squads that met in the 2002 World Cup. Their fathers, Pablo and Jean, featured in the match between Uruguay and France at the 1966 World Cup.
Forlán is currently Uruguay's all-time most capped player with 82 caps, and equal with Héctor Scarone, who has been the country's top scorer with 31 international goals since 1930.
2002 FIFA World Cup
2004 Copa América
Forlan played 6 games and scored 1 goal.
2007 Copa América
Forlan played 6 games and scored 3 goals.
2010 FIFA World Cup
On 16 June 2010, during Uruguay's second group game in the
2010 World Cup against
South Africa, Forlán opened the scoring with a long range effort. Later in the game, Forlán scored from the penalty spot for his second and also had a hand in Uruguay's third, in a 3–0 win over the host nation. On 2 July 2010, Forlán scored a free kick against
Ghana to equalise in the quarter-final. The game ended 1–1 and Uruguay advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Ghana 4–2 in the
penalty shootout. On 6 July 2010, Forlán scored another long range goal, this time with his left foot to equalise against the
Netherlands in the semi-final. Despite a half-time score of 1–1, Uruguay eventually lost 3–2 as the Dutch advanced to the
final. Forlán became the first player since
Lothar Matthäus in
1990 to score three goals from outside the penalty area in one tournament. On 10 July 2010, Forlán scored for the final time in the tournament as he netted a well-executed volley from the edge of the area to give Uruguay the lead. This goal, from a pass by
Arévalo Ríos, was selected by FIFA as the Goal of the Tournament. Forlán then hit the crossbar with the final kick of the game from a free-kick as they lost to
Germany 3–2 in the
third place play-off. Forlán was awarded the
Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. He was also picked for the team of the tournament, and was one of the top scorers at the World Cup with 5 goals.
2011 Copa América
On 24 July 2011, Forlán scored twice after
Luis Suarez's opening goal helping Uruguay win their 15th
Copa America title after beating
Paraguay 3–0 in the final. Forlan's father and grandfather were also South American champions with Uruguay over a period spanning the 95 years of the world's oldest active tournament.
International goals and caps
Uruguay's goal tally first.
International appearances and goals
|
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Result !! Competition !! Goal
|
|
|
27 March
|
Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium, Dammam
|
|
|
|
1 (1)
|
|
17 April
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 May
|
Wulihe Stadium, Shenyang
|
|
|
|
|
|
21 May
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 June
|
Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon
|
|
|
|
1 (2)
|
|
|
28 March
|
|
|
|
|
1 (3)
|
|
8 June
|
Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul
|
|
|
|
|
|
20 August
|
|
|
|
|
1 (4)
|
|
7 September
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
1 (5)
|
|
10 September
|
Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
|
|
|
|
|
|
15 November
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
19 November
|
Pinheirão, Curitiba
|
|
|
|
2 (7)
|
|
|
18 February
|
Independence Park (Jamaica) |
|
|
|
|
|
31 March
|
[[Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 June
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
1 (8)
|
|
6 June
|
Estadio Metropolitano, Barranquilla
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 July
|
Estadio Elías Aguirre, Chiclayo
|
|
|
2004 Copa América
|
|
|
10 July
|
Estadio Elías Aguirre, Chiclayo
|
|
|
2004 Copa América
|
1 (9)
|
|
13 July
|
|
|
|
2004 Copa América
|
|
|
18 July
|
Estadio Jorge Basadre, Tacna
|
|
|
2004 Copa América
|
|
|
21 July
|
|
|
|
2004 Copa América
|
|
|
24 July
|
Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega, Cusco
|
|
|
2004 Copa América
|
|
|
9 October
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
27 March
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
30 March
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
1 (10)
|
|
4 June
|
Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo
|
|
|
|
1 (11)
|
|
7 June
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 August
|
El Molinón, Gijón
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 September
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 October
|
Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito
|
|
|
|
|
|
12 October
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
12 November
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 March
|
Anfield, Liverpool
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 August
|
Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
|
|
|
|
|
|
15 November
|
Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 June
|
Stadium Australia, Sydney
|
|
|
|
1 (12)
|
|
26 June
|
|
|
|
2007 Copa América
|
|
|
30 June
|
|
|
|
2007 Copa América
|
|
|
3 July
|
|
|
|
2007 Copa América
|
|
|
7 July
|
|
|
|
2007 Copa América
|
2 (14)
|
|
10 July
|
Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo
|
|
|
2007 Copa América
|
1 (15)
|
|
14 July
|
|
|
|
2007 Copa América
|
|
|
13 October
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
1 (16)
|
|
17 October
|
Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 February
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
28 May
|
Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
|
|
|
|
|
|
14 June
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 June
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
3 (19)
|
|
6 September
|
Estadio El Campín, Bogotá
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 September
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
19 November
|
Stade de France, Paris
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
28 March
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
1 (20)
|
|
1 April
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 June
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 June
|
|
|
|
|
1 (21)
|
|
9 September
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 October
|
Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito
|
|
|
|
1 (22)
|
|
13 October
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
14 November
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
18 November
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 March
|
AFG Arena, St. Gallen
|
|
|
|
1 (23)
|
|
26 May
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
1 (24)
|
|
11 June
|
Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 June
|
Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
|
|
|
|
2 (26)
|
|
22 June
|
Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
|
|
|
|
|
|
26 June
|
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 July
|
Soccer City, Johannesburg
|
|
|
|
1 (27)
|
|
6 July
|
Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
|
|
|
|
1 (28)
|
|
10 July
|
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
|
|
|
|
1 (29)
|
|
12 October
|
Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 November
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25 March
|
A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn
|
|
|
|
|
|
29 March
|
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
|
|
|
|
|
|
29 May
|
Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Sinsheim
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 June
|
Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
|
|
|
|
|
|
23 June
|
Estadio Atilio Paiva Olivera, Rivera
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 July
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 July
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12 July
|
Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 July
|
Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López |
|
|
|
|
|
19 July
|
[[Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata
|
|
|
|
|
|
24 July
|
|
|
|
|
2 (31)
|
Career statistics
Club
''Statistics accurate as of match played 12 May 2011''
International
|-
|2002||5||2
|-
|2003||7||5
|-
|2004||11||2
|-
|2005||9||2
|-
|2006||3||0
|-
|2007||9||5
|-
|2008||7||3
|-
|2009||9||3
|-
|2010||11||7
|-
|2011||11||2
|-
!Total||82||31
|}
''Statistics accurate as of match played 24 July 2011''
Awards and honours
Club
;Manchester United
Premier League (1): 2002–03
FA Cup (1): 2003–04
FA Community Shield (1): 2003
;Villarreal
UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 2004
;Atlético Madrid
UEFA Europa League (1): 2009–10
UEFA Super Cup (1): 2010
National team
;Uruguay:
2004 Copa América: Third Place
2007 Copa América: Fourth Place
2010 World Cup: Fourth Place
2011 Copa América: Winner
Individual
EFE Trophy (1): 2004–05
European Golden Shoe (2): 2004–05*, 2008–09
Pichichi Trophy (2): 2004–05, 2008–09
2010 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team
2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball
(* Jointly shared with
Thierry Henry)
Personal life
A founding member of
Fundación Alejandra Forlán, headed by his sister, Forlán is outspoken on the perils of dangerous driving. Back in 1991, Alejandra suffered a car accident where she lost her boyfriend and became paralyzed as a result.
Diego Maradona met Forlan's father during that time, since he was a footballer in the 1970s, and helped him raise funds for his daughter’s treatment. She became an integral part of his inspiration to play football, and the whole family has gathered round to make sure the foundation is given as high a profile as his in Uruguay.
In 2009, Forlán appeared in a music video for Coti starring alongside Maxi Rodríguez. On July 2010, Forlán had his match-winning antics at the FIFA World Cup 2010 immortalised in the style of the famous Japanese series Captain Tsubasa. The celebratory song was made by the faceless band The Golden Vuvuzelas with music from the Super Robot anime series Mazinger Z.
Forlán announced on 9 March 2011 on his official Twitter page that he and Argentinian model/actress Zaira Nara were engaged to be married. However, in June 2011, Forlan and Nara announced they were breaking their engagement. However no reason was released for the breakup.
References
Internazionale Milano move - http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/949710/atletico-madrid-striker-diego-forlan-on-verge-of-inter-milan-move?cc=5901
External links
Atlético Madrid profile
BDFutbol profile
Transfermarkt profile
2010 FIFA World Cup profile
Category:1979 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Montevideo
Category:Uruguayan people of Spanish descent
Category:Uruguayan people of Basque descent
Category:Spanish people of Uruguayan descent
Category:Naturalised citizens of Spain
Category:Uruguayan footballers
Category:Association football forwards
Category:Primera División Argentina players
Category:Club Atlético Independiente footballers
Category:Premier League players
Category:La Liga footballers
Category:Serie A footballers
Category:Manchester United F.C. players
Category:Villarreal CF footballers
Category:Atlético Madrid footballers
Category:F.C. Internazionale Milano players
Category:Pichichi Trophy winners
Category:Uruguay international footballers
Category:2004 Copa América players
Category:2007 Copa América players
Category:2011 Copa América players
Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players
Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players
Category:Uruguayan expatriate footballers
Category:Expatriate footballers in Argentina
Category:Expatriate footballers in England
Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain
af:Diego Forlán
ar:دييغ? ??رلان
bn:দিয়েগো ফরলান
bg:Диего Форлан
ca:Diego Martín Forlán Corazo
cs:Diego Forlán
cy:Diego Forlán
da:Diego Forlán
de:Diego Forlán
et:Diego Forlán
el:Ντιέγκο Φο?λάν
es:Diego Forlán
eu:Diego Forlán
fa:دیگ? ??رلان
fr:Diego Forlán
gl:Diego Forlán
ko:디?고 포를란
hy:Դիեգո Ֆորլան
hr:Diego Forlán
id:Diego Forlán
it:Diego Forlán
he:דייגו פורל?ן
la:Didacus Forlán
lv:Djego Forlans
lt:Diego Forlán
hu:Diego Forlán
mr:दियेगो फोर्लान
mn:Диего Форлан
nl:Diego Forlán
ja:?ィエゴ??ォ???
no:Diego Forlán
nn:Diego Forlán
pl:Diego Forlán
pt:Diego Forlán
ro:Diego Forlán
qu:Diego Forlán
ru:Форлан, Диего
simple:Diego Forlán
sk:Diego Forlán
sl:Diego Forlán
sr:Ди?его Форлан
fi:Diego Forlán
sv:Diego Forlán
th:เดียโ? ฟอร์ลัน
tr:Diego Forlán
uk:Дієго Форлан
vi:Diego Forlán
zh:迪亞?·科?