Diego Forlán, Uruguay footballer: Profile, Career, News & Videos

Diego Forlán is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the Uruguay national team and the Uruguay under-20 national team. Nicknamed \"Cachavacha\", Forlán is regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation, renowned for his tactical intelligence, playmaking abilities, and clinical finishing.

Born into a prominent football family, Forlán started his career in his native Uruguay as a youth player for the Peñarol and Danubio academies, before joining Argentine club Independiente in 1997. After four successful years, he moved to Manchester United in 2001, where he won the Premier League and the FA Cup with the club. In 2004, he joined Villarreal, winning the Pichichi Trophy and European Golden Shoe with 25 goals in his first season. After two more successful seasons with Villarreal, during which he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in the club's first-ever season in the tournament, Forlán later moved to Atlético Madrid in 2007, winning both awards again in 2009 with 32 goals, becoming the first player to win the Pichichi Trophy twice since Ronaldo in 1997 and 2004. With Atlético, he also won the UEFA Europa League, of which he scored the decisive goal in the final, and the UEFA Super Cup with Atlético Madrid, both in 2010. In 2011, he joined Italian club Inter Milan, before moving to Internacional in Brazil the following year. After several spells in Japan with Cerezo Osaka, back in Uruguay with his boyhood club Peñarol, in India with Mumbai City and in Hong Kong with Kitchee, Forlán officially announced his retirement from professional football in 2019.

Forlán also had a distinguished international career with Uruguay, scoring 36 goals in 112 appearances across three FIFA World Cup (2002, 2010, 2014) and three Copa América (2004, 2007, 2011) tournaments. His most notable achievement came at the 2010 World Cup, where he scored five goals, helped Uruguay reach the semi-finals since 1970, and won several awards of the tournament, including the Golden Ball as the best player. In 2011, he helped Uruguay win the Copa América, its first international title since 1995, scoring twice in the final, and surpassing the national appearance record. At the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, he became the first Uruguayan to earn 100 caps. He remained Uruguay’s all-time top scorer until Luis Suárez surpassed him two years later in 2013.

After retiring as a player, Forlán began his coaching career in Uruguay, managing Peñarol and Atenas in 2020 and 2021. He has also collaborated with FIFA in several ventures, having served as a tournament ambassador for the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, and since 2022, has served as an international ambassador for the FIFA Museum. Since July 2023, Forlán has continued his tennis career, competing in the ITF Masters tour, ranking in the 35+, 40+, and 45+ age categories, and played his first ATP event at the 2024 Uruguay Open in doubles with Federico Coria. In 2026, Forlán was appointed as the head coach of Uruguay for both their senior and under-20 teams after the dismissal of Marcelo Bielsa.