Amid the transfer deadline day madness that sends so many football fans into meltdown, an online message in Spanish from a man in Uruguay: “After 21 years I made the decision to end my career as a professional footballer,” Diego Forlan wrote. “A beautiful stage closes full of great memories and emotions but another of new challenges will begin. Thanks to all who in one way or another accompanied me on this path.”
And what a career it was. He has played until he is 40, performing at the top-level in nine different countries, starting out in Argentina with Independiente before moving to England with Manchester United, then to Spain with Villarreal and Atlético Madrid. A spell in Italy with European champions Inter Milan followed before time at another Inter, the Brazilian giants from Porto Alegre. Time in Japan with Cerezo Osaka, Uruguay with his beloved Peñarol and India with Mumbai City meant he carried on when many of his teammates were long retired. His final club was Kitchee of Hong Kong.
Forlan’s motivations were varied and reflected his intelligence and curiosity about the world. “My dream as a youngster was to play in Europe,” he explained. “Most South American players will say the same. But when I started travelling I started enjoying experiencing the cultures of living in different places. I never intended to play in Japan or India, but I’m very happy that I did. I also know that if I want to stay in football and go into management, it’s better for me to know as much about football and the different cultures and mentalities as I can. They vary greatly from continent to continent.”
Forlan speaks five languages and can also understand “some Japanese”. He helped Cristiano Ronaldo integrate at Manchester United as he spoke Portuguese. Forlan’s father, a professional himself like his grandfather (they’re the only family that has three generations of players all to be crowned South American champions), would watch the other players train. He picked Ronaldo out from the beginning.
Ronaldo became the best player in the world but at Forlan’s peak he was the leading goalscorer and player of the 2010 World Cup finals. Not many can say that.
He looked after himself; he had a private trainer long before it became the norm for top-level players and he ate well. He was also two-footed after spending hours kicking a tennis ball against a wall with both feet as a child.
As a journalist, I couldn't have found a more helpful subject. I followed his career closely and interviewed him in Manchester, Spain, Italy and Brazil. I worked with him on columns for six years.
In 2014 he invited me to Uruguay’s training camp outside Belo Horizonte ahead of their World Cup game against England. Uruguay’s media team and security were suspicious of English journalists and escorted them all off the premises. I told them that Diego had invited me and they simply didn’t believe me. I called him and he had me escorted into their inner sanctum and introduced me to his teammates, including Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez. Then Uruguay beat England in Sao Paulo.
Some of his stories were incredible. Of his dad having a long conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson, despite neither of them speaking the same language. Or what happened as he moved from Inter in Italy to Inter in Brazil in 2012.
Feeling down in Milan with Inter, even refusing to take his calls, he flew to Brazil. The passport official in Sao Paulo asked him why he wasn’t joining Corinthians. His colleague shook his head and said,No, join Sao Paulo. They didn’t check his passport. Forlan took an internal flight on a budget airline to Porto Alegre. Passengers wished him well and told him that they were Inter too. A message from his family said that they’d been to the airport, but it was impossible. There were too many fans, thousands, waiting to meet him. They said he wouldn’t believe it.
On arrival, Forlan was taken through a different part of the airport. He walked through the arrivals and the doors opened. “Wow!” he said. “Two thousand people. At first I could only see red: scarves, flags, flares, which they set off inside the airport. Fans were on all three levels of the airport, singing my name. I’ll never forget the moment. Someone handed me a giant drum with my name and number on it. I banged it and handed it back. I saw some patches of blue, flags of Uruguay.
“Security held the crowd back. It was madness, chaos – songs, shouts and screams – frightening but also exhilarating. I was pushed into a van with blacked-out windows, but fans knew I was inside and rocked the bus. For 20 minutes I soaked up their passion but felt the weight of their expectations too.” Finally, after speaking to the media, he saw his family. Their words were not of praise: “They were laughing at me, because I’d mixed up some Italian words with Portuguese words.”
Forlan, the last player to win the European Golden Boot before the domination of Lionel Messi and Ronaldo – yes, he was that good – could have had a better time at Old Trafford, yet fans still sing his name. Why? Two goals at Anfield in 2002.
“I’ll be honest, I get goose bumps every time I hear it,” he told me. “I can be in Brazil or Uruguay, Japan or Spain watching a United game on television and hear it. It is so flattering. I’m not Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or another United legend, nor am I the only player to have scored at Anfield, so it feels a privilege to be remembered. I was getting so few minutes in the team that I didn’t even feel like I was a proper footballer until that game. I was training but not playing, but something happened that day that would make it one of the greatest moments of my life. When I scored I ran to the away end and the fans went crazy. Faces looked like they going to explode. My teammates were delighted, for the team and for me, as they knew I’d had a tough time.
“Stewards rushed forward to push us away from the fans. Ryan Giggs, who set me up for the goal, told the stewards in bright orange jackets where they should go. I repeated what Giggs said. Nobody was stopping us enjoying this moment. Nobody. I wanted to jump over that fence and get in with them, which is not responsible, but I was so happy and my adrenaline was pumping.
“When I’ve retired from club football I plan to go in that end with the United fans behind the goal. I’ll put a hood up and keep my head down – not everyone in Liverpool would be delighted to see me. But I can’t sing about myself. Someone else needs to score two that day.”
Now married to Paz and a father of three living in Montevideo, he’ll have plenty of time to get in that away end. Whether this United are good enough to score a couple and win at Anfield is another question.
All the best, Diego.
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