Class on the field and class off of it, Diego Forlan exudes it. Going into the World Cup final Sunday four players had separated themselves from the rest in terms of their play throughout the tournament and were the only real contenders for the Golden Ball or the best player in the World Cup - David Villa, Wesley Sneijder, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Diego Forlan. I also thought the player from the winning team in the final would take home the Golden Ball.
However, I commend the media and voters for selecting Forlan a player that scored five scintillating goals and had one assist while helping this not so well known Uruguayan team, the second smallest country in the tournament with a population of around 3.2 million people, win Group A.
In the process Uruguay got two notable scalps, they're tie with France in the opening match helped send that team into turmoil before going home in complete disgrace, and they're win over South Africa in the second match ultimately meant that for the first time in the history of the World Cup the host nation would not advance past group stage into the knockout round. Once into the knockout round, Uruguay found themselves in the most favorable draw to get the semifinals playing South Korea in the round of 16 match before having to take on Ghana in the quarterfinals. Forlan and company took care of business in both matches and even though they would fall short against the Netherlands in the semis and Germany in the third-place game, 3-2 both times, Uruguay had its best finish in the World Cup since 1970 when Forlan's father was playing for La Celeste.
In fact Uruguay are the forgotten world soccer power. Having won two of the first four World Cups in 1930 and 1950, more recently failed to qualify in 2006, ranked 26th in 2002 failing to get past the group stage, and also failed to qualify in 1998 and 1994. Not exactly great credentials.
Like his home country, this tournament was all about redemption for Forlan. A famous flop at Manchester United after coming over from Independiente in Argentina, it took Forlan eight months to score his first goal for the club as fans became restless with his performance. He would go on to score several big goals there, but it was not until he moved to Spain where he became a household name leading La Liga with 25 goals at Villarreal before he moved on to his most recent team Atletico Madrid.
But enough about his biography, Forlan for me was one of the most pleasurable players to watch in this tournament. He never looks like he's going to do much, but all of the sudden he will make a deft-cutback move, take one more touch and then unleash his deadly accurate shot from either foot. Getting better as the tournament progressed, Forlan scored in each of Uruguay's last three games in the knockout round, all of which were world class.
Unselfish as well, Forlan may have only had one assist, but his ability to pick out teammates on free kick or switch the point of attack to people like striking partner Luis Suarzo was incredible all tournament long. He was also one of the few in the tournament to have figured out the Jabulani Adidas ball scoring one of the most memorable free kicks against Ghana, the only goal for Uruguay in regulation.
I think going back to the fact that Forlan continued to perform and may have even gotten better as his opponents got better speaks to why the voters selected him.
Neither Sneijder nor Villa exemplified themselves late in the tournament. Sneijder did score two in the quaters against Brazil - probably his crowning moment in the tournament - and then one more against Uruguay in the semis off a deflection, but in the final he was could not inflict his will on the game as Spain essentially shut him down with Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets marking him throughout. Villa also fell off track because his coach Vincente Del Bosque had to put him into Fernando Torres's center forward position with Torres failing to live up to expectations. Villa simply just does not play as well in the middle as a smaller player often playing against giant center defenders as opposed to when he is slotted on the wing, and he did not score another goal after the switch of positions.
And lastly no team depended on one player more than Uruguay depended on Forlan to score goals and be "the guy." Sneijder had Robben, Kuyt, Van Persie and even both Elia and Van der Vaart off the bench to act as side kicks. Villa had Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Torres, Puyol, Pique, Alonso, and Casillas all to protect him. Spain and the Netherlands and even Germany were all vastly more talented than Uruguay, who did also have Suarez and a few other decent talents, but again Forlan was the marked and still came through.
Taking a look at Forlan's work, I think you will see why I think the voters chose "wisely."
