Diego Forlán Corazo born 19 May 1979 in Montevideo is a Uruguayan footballer who currently plays as a striker for Atlético Madrid and the Uruguayan national team and he is considered the savior of football. 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 FC (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 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. 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.
Full name: Diego Forlán Corazo
Date of birth: 19 May 1979 (1979-05-19) (age 31)
Place of birth: Montevideo, Uruguay
Height: 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position: Striker
Club information
Current club: Atlético Madrid
Number: 7
Youth career
Peñarol
Danubio
Independiente
Senior career*
1998–2002 Independiente 80 (37)
2002–2004 Manchester United 63 (10)
2004–2007 Villarreal 106 (54)
2007– Atlético Madrid 125 (73)
National team‡
2002– Uruguay 71 (29)
