For me, the footballing highlight of 2010 had to be the confirmation of Uruguay and Atletico Madrid striker as Golden Ball winner at the FIFA World Cup. A long time favourite of mine, ever since I saw him score the first time I ever went to a professional football match at Old Trafford back in 2002, he had long been regarded as a bit of a joke by the ignorant amongst us. However, this year saw him finally acknowledged by the masses as the class act that he is.
Signed by Manchester United in 2002 as a 22-year-old striker from Argentine club Independiente, he was labelled 'Diego Birtles' (after United flop of the '80s Garry Birtles) when he failed to score in his first 27 games for the club. These however were largely substitute appearances and it wasn't long before his class began to shine through. A gradual improvement in performances led to some memorable moments, notably his brace at Anfield which gave United their first win over their bitter rivals for over three years, and he won over the majority of the Stretford End faithful. Some great goals including a volley against Chelsea in the last minute to secure a vital victory and a similar screamer against Rangers in the Champions League left few at Old Trafford in doubt of his ability. Unfortunately, with Ruud Van Nistelrooy at the peak of his powers and Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also in the frame, Forlan could never quite pin down a regular starting berth and the arrival of Wayne Rooney in August 2004 was the end for the Uruguayan at Old Trafford.
A move to Spain seemed to ignite Forlan's potential and he finished his first season with Villarreal as Europe's top scorer, claiming the European Golden Shoe award with 25 goals to his name. He was also involved as the Yellow Submarine made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2006, netting three times along the way. A move to Atletico Madrid followed in 2007 and the goals didn't dry up. The boy from Montevideo bagged his second Golden Shoe award in 2009 with a whopping 32 league goals to his name and secured Atletico's qualification for the Champions League. Los Rojiblancos were knocked out in the group stage but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as a drop down to the newfangled UEFA Europa League suited them down to the ground. Coming up against old foes Liverpool in the semi-finals, Forlan did what he does best and scored both goals in the tie eliminating the Reds on away goals at Anfield. This caused his old fans at United to chant his song the following weekend at Sunderland (Diego, he came from Uruguay, he made the scousers cry) and that wasn't the last of his recognition in England.
Not content with knocking out Liverpool, Forlan finished the job by netting the winner in the final against the lovable, but eventually hapless Fulham. Victory in the Europa League, Atletico's first major trophy for fourteen years, was a great springboard to go into the World Cup on. In South Africa, the blonde-haired striker finished joint top-scorer and would have won the Golden Boot outright if his last-minute free-kick against Germany in the third-place play off had gone in instead of hitting the bar. But Forlan's all round composure, skill, technique and fair play had already won him a legion of fans (despite team-mate Luis Suarez's perceived foul play losing him many). His love for football is clear for all to see. An amusing incident in his United days springs to mind, when after celebrating a goal against Southampton by removing his shirt, he didn't manage to get it on in time for the restart and was briefly running after the ball bare-torso with his shirt in hand before the referee had to stop play.
The Golden Ball award for best player of the World Cup was certainly deserved. Since then he has scored a decent, if not exhilarating, seven goals in seventeen appearances for Atletico so far this season but is constantly being linked with a return to the Premier League. And how great it would be to see him given a second chance in the most competitive major league in Europe. I for one am sure that this time around he would be far from a disappointment.
