Diego Forlán
Diego Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation, Forlán is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe at club level. With the Uruguay national team, he had notable individual success at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, finishing as joint top scorer with five goals, winning the goal of the tournament, and winning the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.
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Forlán lining up with Uruguay in 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Diego Forlán Corazo | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 19 May 1979 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Striker | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | Peñarol | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1994 | Danubio | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1997 | Independiente | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2002 | Independiente | 80 | (37) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | Manchester United | 63 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | Villarreal | 106 | (54) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2011 | Atlético Madrid | 134 | (74) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Inter Milan | 18 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Internacional | 34 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Cerezo Osaka | 42 | (17) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Peñarol | 30 | (8) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Mumbai City | 11 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Kitchee | 7 | (5) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | 525 | (222) | ||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 | Uruguay U20 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2014 | Uruguay | 112 | (36) | |||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Peñarol | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Atenas | |||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
Forlán began his career in his native Uruguay as a youth player with Peñarol and Danubio, before joining Argentine club Independiente. After rising through their youth team and after a successful four-year spell, he sealed a move to England with Manchester United in 2002. His form for United was not as successful as at Independiente, although he won the Premier League in 2002–03 and the FA Cup in 2003–04.
In the summer of 2004, Forlán moved to Spanish side Villarreal. In his first season in Spanish football, he 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 in 1996–97 and 2003–04. Forlán scored in Atlético's 2010 Europa League final victory against Fulham. In 2011, he joined Inter Milan of Italy before moving to Internacional in 2012. After spells in Japan with Cerezo Osaka, back in Uruguay with his boyhood club Peñarol, in India with Mumbai City and in Hong Kong with Kitchee, Forlán retired from professional football in August 2019.
Forlán also had a successful international career, scoring 36 times for his country between his debut in 2002 and his retirement in 2015, including six goals at FIFA World Cups. On 12 July 2011, at the 2011 Copa América in Argentina, which Uruguay won, Forlán earned his 79th international cap in a match against Mexico, breaking the record held since 1986 by goalkeeper Rodolfo Rodríguez. On 20 June 2013, in a match against Nigeria at the 2013 Confederations Cup, Forlán became the first Uruguayan to win 100 caps. Forlán was Uruguay's all-time leading top scorer from 2011 until Luis Suárez overtook him two years later.