Diego Forlan

Diego Forlan — Diego Martin Forlan Corazo (born 19 May 1979 in Montevideo) is an Uruguayan footballer who currently plays for Atletico Madrid of La Liga. He is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe.

He was born into a family of footballers. His father Pablo had played for the Uruguay national football team during the 1966 FIFA World Cup held in England and the 1974 FIFA World Cup held in West Germany and his grandfather (through his mother), Juan Carlos Corazo, played for Independiente in Argentina.

Forlan, son of former player and Uruguayan international Pablo Forlan, was a promising tennis player in his youth, but when his sister Alejandra was involved in a car accident which killed her boyfriend and left her in intensive care for five months, he decided to follow the family tradition and concentrate on football. He played for several South American clubs, including Argentine side Independiente before transferring in January 2002 to play for Manchester United in England for a fee of £6.9 million.

Forlan debuted for the Uruguayan national team in 2002. He scored in the 2002 FIFA World Cup against Senegal with a volley. He also scored against Brazil in the 35th minute of the 2007 Copa America semi-final. However, he missed his shot during the subsequent penalty shootout, which Brazil ultimately won 5–4. Since the 2007 Copa America, Forlan has become a regular for Uruguay and often has a place in the starting XI. On 17 June 2008, he scored a hat trick in a World Cup qualifying game against Peru. He also obtained the South American Brown Sandal Award for most goals almost scored by a South American footballer.

On 16 June 2010, during Uruguay’s second group game in the 2010 FIFA World Cup against South Africa, Forlan opened the scoring with a long range effort. Later on in the game Forlan scored from the penalty spot for his second and also had a hand in Uruguay’s third, ending in a 3-0 win over the host nation. On 2 July 2010, Forlan scored the equalizing goal against Ghana during the quarter-finals. The game ended 1-1 and Uruguay advanced through to the semi-finals after defeating Ghana 4-2 in the penalty shootout.