Diego Forlán

Early career

Peñarol/Danubio

Forlán was a boyhood fan of Peñarol and played for the youth academies for Peñarol and Danubio. In 1995, at 16-years-old, Forlán moved to France where he spent four months on trial at Nancy Lorraine, but was ultimately not offered a contract by then-manager László Bölöni.

Professional career

Independiente

Forlán received an offer to join Argentine side Independiente through the help of one of his father's contacts, José Omar Pastoriza. He soon accepted, rejecting a simultaneous offer from Boca Juniors. Arriving in Argentina on 28 January 1998, Forlán made his way up the Independiente reserve teams and thanks to strong performances, started training with the first team. Injuries to several forward players who were ahead of him in the pecking order created an opportunity for the young Uruguayan, who made his professional debut on 26 October 1998 in a match against Argentinos Juniors. Forlán scored 37 goals in 80 league games. His goalscoring attracted the attention of European sides, and in January 2002, Independiente agreed a £6.9 million deal with Middlesbrough of the Premier League; the transfer fee would be paid over 18 installments. Forlán travelled to England expecting to negotiate with Middlesbrough, but at the last minute Manchester United gazumped the Teesside club, offering Independiente the same fee in a single payment, as well as a more lucrative salary for Forlán. On arriving in England, he…

Forlán's 100th cap came in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup match against Nigeria. On 11 October 2011, he scored his 32nd goal, which made him Uruguay's top scorer of all time in official matches, beating Héctor Scarone who had held the record alone with 31 goals since 1930. (Scarone scored 42 goals in total, but 11 of them were in unofficial matches).

2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 Copa América, and 2007 Copa América

Forlán debuted for the Uruguayan senior squad on 27 March 2002, scoring his first goal in a 3–2 friendly defeat against Saudi Arabia. During the 2002 World Cup, he scored a volley on 11 June in the group stage 3–3 draw against Senegal. Despite coming from three goals down to draw the game, Uruguay were eliminated from the tournament along with France in Group A. Forlán scored against Brazil in the 35th minute of the 2007 Copa América semi-final, but missed his shot during the subsequent penalty shoot-out, which Brazil eventually won 5–4.

2010 FIFA World Cup

On 17 June 2008, Forlán scored a hat-trick in a World Cup qualifying game against Peru. On 16 June 2010, during Uruguay's second group game in the 2010 World Cup against hosts South Africa, Forlán opened the scoring with a right footed long range effort. Later in the game, Forlán scored from the penalty spot, shooting high into the net for his second and also had a hand in Uruguay's third, in a 3–0 win over the host nation. On 2 July 2010, Forlán scored a free kick against Ghana to equalise…

Forlán is of Basque, Italian, and Irish descent, and because of his Basque ancestry through his grandmother, who was originally from Gipuzkoa and immigrated to Uruguay when she was a teenager, he was linked to Athletic Bilbao after his departure from Manchester United, even though the club only permits Basque players. Born to a family of professional footballers, Forlán is the son of Pablo Forlán (who played during several prolific years for Peñarol and São Paulo and represented the Uruguay national team at the 1966 and 1974 FIFA World Cups) and, through his mother, Pilar Corazzo, is the grandson of Juan Carlos Corazzo, known for his tenure with Independiente in Argentina. Forlán is also the nephew of Richard Forlán and is distantly related (on his mother's side) to Cristopher Fiermarin.

Forlán was born on 19 May 1979 and raised in the neighborhood of Carrasco in the capital city of Montevideo. His family, which included three brothers, a sister, four cousins, his maternal grandmother and her sister, resided in an apartment building on Potosi street, a short distance from the Hotel Carrasco and the Rambla.

Forlán attended multiple schools in the private and state sector during his youth. He started at the Liceo Francés Jules Supervielle in Buceo, but later transferred to the Erwy School because it was closer to his home. This was followed by the Scuola Italiana di Montevideo and then Liceo 15 in Carrasco. He learned English at school from a young age. As a child, Forlán played tennis at the Carrasco Lawn Tennis Club, in addition to football, which often took place on the streets. On 14 September 1991, Forlán's sister Alejandra was seriously injured and eventually left handicapped by a car accident that also killed her boyfriend. The cost of the medical bills plunged his family into financial crisis, though this was later averted due to the fundraising efforts of Diego Maradona. Until this point Forlán was also dedicated to tennis, but ultimately focused more on football, like his father and grandfather, in the hope that he might contribute to paying for his sister's treatment.