Diego Forlan

Diego Forlán Corazo (Spanish pronunciation: born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan footballer who plays as a striker for Atlético Madrid 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.

Forlán also has a successful international career, having scored 29 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.

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 strongly linked with a move to Spanish clubs Levante UD and Athletic Bilbao (the latter as he is of Basque descent), but signed on 21 August 2004 with another Spanish club, Villarreal CF, where he became the La Liga 2004–05 season Pichichi Trophy winner with 25 goals in 38 appearances (goal every 1.5 games), helping Villarreal to their first ever UEFA Champions League spot.

Forlán was however recognized with the Golden Ball award, given to the best player at the tournament.