Table of Contents
- Diego Forlan is a former professional footballer from Uruguay who played as a striker
- Forlan achieved success with the teams he played for and was awarded with various individual honours
- After announcing his retirement, he began his managerial career and later started playing tennis
From a small town in Uruguay to leading Europe when it comes to goalscoring, the story of Diego Forlan is one worth reading.
Let’s get started; Diego Forlan is a former professional footballer from Uruguay who played as a striker. He was one of the best players in the world at the peak of his career and is widely regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation. Starting his youth career at Independentie, the former Uruguay international went on to play for some of Europe’s finest clubs, including Manchester United, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan.
Forlan achieved success with the teams he played for and was also awarded with various individual honours for his outstanding performance on the pitch. The now 45-year-old is a two-time winner of the European Golden Shoe, an award many top strikers in the football world dream of winning.
Diego Forlan. Photo/ CNN.
Representing Uruguay, Forlan was one of the best players at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He helped Uruguay reach the semi-final stage of the tournament and claimed the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball.
After a successful career as a footballer, Forlan decided to start a new journey in the tennis world. From scoring wonder goals and hat-tricks to now taking shots in the professional tennis tour, here is the story of Diego Forlan.
Diego Forlan Football Career
To start with, Diego Forlan comes from a footballing family. His father, Pablo Forlan, is a former football player who represented the Uruguay national team at international level.
Forlan grew up in a family which included his four siblings, four cousins and his maternal grandmother and her sister. As a child, the legendary forward played both football and tennis, but decided to follow the footsteps of his father and grandfather by playing football.
A talented, hardworking and creative player, Forlan showed signs of becoming a top player from a young age. He played for the youth clubs of Penarol and Danubio before moving to Independentie where he made his senior debut in 1998. The young forward would go on to score 37 goals in 80 league matches, drawing the attention of some of Europe’s leading clubs.
On 22 January 2002, Diego Forlan was signed by Manchester United. He made his debut seven days later as a substitute in United’s 4-0 win over Bolton Wanderers. The young talent struggled to impress during his early days at Old Trafford as he played in 13 Premier League matches and five UEFA Champions League games without scoring.
On 18 September 2002, he scored his first goal for Manchester United in a 5-2 win over Maccabi Haifa. From there, things started going Forlan’s way and he went on to achieve great success with the Red Devils. Before his exit, the Uruguayan helped the Red Devils win the Premier League, FA Cup and FA Community Shield.
After his spell with United came to an end, Forlan went on to play for Spanish side Villareal, with whom he won UEFA Intertoto Cup. He then moved to Atletico Madrid where he achieved further success, winning the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup.
Forlan had a spell with Inter Milan before leaving Europe for Japanese J1 League side Cerezo Osaka. He spent the last years of his glittering career playing for Penarol, Mumbai City and Kitchee.
Joining The Tennis World
Diego Forlan. Photo/ UbiTennis.net.
After announcing his retirement from football in August 2019, Diego Forlan began his managerial career and was appointed manager of his former club Penarol three months later. However, things didn’t go well for him as he was sacked after recording just four wins in eleven matches. He then served as manager of Atenas for a period of six months before being sacked.
After going for two years without a club to manage, Forlan began his tennis career competing on the ITF Masters professional tennis tour. He has been competing professionally and attracted the attention of media in June this year when he reached the quarterfinal stage of the ITF MT1000 Lima 45+ tournament.
Forlan, a football legend, will be in action at the 2024 Uruguay Open where he will be playing alongside Argentina’s Federico Coria in the doubles event. The tournament starts today and will take place until November 17.
