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 FIFA 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 signed for Manchester United. Forlán's two-year stint in the Premier League saw him fail to achieve the form he held at Independiente, and he was signed by 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, in which he has scored 29 times for his country. He scored once at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, and five times at the 2010 FIFA 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 5 goals, Forlan did not receive the Golden Boot, because Thomas Müller was ahead of him on assists, with 3. He was recognized by receiving the Golden Ball award, given to the best player at the tournament.
Contents
1 Club career
1.1 Early career
1.2 Manchester United
1.3 Villarreal
1.4 Atlético Madrid
2 International career
2.1 2010 FIFA World Cup
2.2 International goals and caps
3 Career statistics
4 Honours
4.1 Club
4.2 National Team
4.3 Individual
5 Personal life
6 References
7 External links
Club career
Forlán, son of former player and Uruguayan international Pablo Forlán, was a promising tennis player in his youth, but he decided to follow the family tradition and concentrate on football when his sister Alejandra was involved in a car accident, which killed her boyfriend and left her in intensive care for five months. He played for several South American clubs, including Argentine side Independiente, where he made his name in football as a goalscorer, before attracting European attention and transferring in January 2002 to play for Manchester United in England for a fee of £6.9 million.
Manchester United
Forlán enjoyed the occasional purple patch of scoring, though. He was noted for scoring important goals, such as the late equaliser at home to Aston Villa and the remarkable volleyed winner in the last minutes of the home game against Chelsea during United's Premiership-winning season of 2002–03, and he became a fan favourite when he scored two goals against Liverpool in a 2–1 victory at Anfield. During this period, Forlán became known for removing his shirt and baring his torso in celebration of his goals. The first such example of this resulted in quite an amusing incident: Forlán whipped his shirt off in excitement after scoring an 85th minute winner against Southampton in November 2002 but struggled to get it back on in time for the re-start of play, resulting in the spectacle of Forlán briefly running around the Old Trafford pitch bare-chested, with his shirt still in his hand, then recovering the ball for his team. The referee soon stopped play and ordered Forlán off the pitch to get dressed.
Forlán's record of 17 goals from 95 appearances for the club does not compare favourably to his former teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy's 150 goals in 210 games, and it was widely thought that he would not start the 2004–05 season in the Red Devils' team colours. That eventually proved true after signing for Villarreal CF in August 2004, the same month Manchester United signed Wayne Rooney.
Villarreal
Forlán was strongly linked to a move to Spanish club Levante UD and Athletic Bilbao (the latter as he is of Basque descent[3]), but signed on 21 August 2004 with another Spanish club, Villarreal CF, where he became the Spanish 2004–05 season Pichichi Trophy winner with 25 goals, helping Villareal to their first ever UEFA Champions League spot. He also jointly won the European Golden Boot award with Thierry Henry. His form dipped in the 2005-06 season as Villareal underwent several changes, but in 2006-07 he began to hit form again, and ended the season high in the scoring charts.
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