playername	Diego Forlán
fullname	Diego Forlán Corazo
dateofbirth	May 19, 1979
cityofbirth	Montevideo
countryofbirth	Uruguay
height
currentclub	Internazionale
clubnumber	9
position	Striker, Attacking midfielder
youthyears1	1990–1991 |youthclubs1 Peñarol
youthyears2	1991–1994 |youthclubs2 Danubio
youthyears3	1994–1997 |youthclubs3 Independiente
years1	1997–2001 |clubs1 Independiente |caps1 80 |goals1 37
years2	2001–2004 |clubs2 Manchester United |caps2 63 |goals2 10
years3	2004–2007 |clubs3 Villarreal |caps3 106 |goals3 54
years4	2007–2011 |clubs4 Atlético Madrid |caps4 134 |goals4 74
years5	2011– |clubs5 Internazionale |caps5 19 |goals5 2
nationalyears1	2002– |nationalteam1 Uruguay |nationalcaps1 85 |nationalgoals1 32
pcupdate	4 March 2012
ntupdate	29 February 2012 }}

Diego Forlán Corazo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Uruguayan footballer who plays as a striker for Internazionale and the Uruguayan national team. He is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe, and also received the Golden Ball as the best player at the 2010 World Cup.

Forlán was born into a family of footballers; his father Pablo having played for São Paulo (1970–1975) and Uruguay in the 1966 and 1974 World Cups and his maternal grandfather, Juan Carlos Corazo, for Independiente in Argentina.

Forlán joined Independiente himself after rising through their youth team, and after a successful four-year spell, he signed for Manchester United of England's Premier League. His form for United was not as successful as at Independiente, although he won the Premier League in 2003 and the FA Cup in 2004. In the Summer of 2004 he moved on to La Liga side Villarreal.

In his first season in Spanish football with Villarreal, Forlán scored 25 league goals and won the Pichichi Trophy. After two more successful seasons with Villarreal, Forlán joined Atlético Madrid, where he once again became the league's top scorer, and became the first player to win the Pichichi Trophy twice since Ronaldo achieved this feat in 2003–04. Forlán scored in Atlético's 2010 Europa League final victory against Fulham. In 2011 he joined Internazionale of Italy's Serie A.

Forlán also has a successful international career, having scored 32 times for his country since his 2002 debut. He scored once at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. He was the joint top scorer by scoring five times at the 2010 World Cup, in which he scored twice against the host nation South Africa, once against Ghana in the quarter-finals, once against the Netherlands in the semi-finals and once against Germany in the third place play-off. Despite being the joint top scorer in the tournament, Forlán did not receive an award for his goals due to tiebreakers. Forlán was however recognised with the Golden Ball award, given to the best player at the tournament.

On 12 July 2011, at the 2011 Copa América in Argentina, Forlán earned his 79th Uruguayan cap, against Mexico, breaking the record held by former goalkeeper Rodolfo Rodriguez since 1986. Forlán is currently Uruguay's leading top scorer at international level in official matches.

Club career

Early career

Born in Montevideo, Forlán, son of former player and Uruguayan international Pablo Forlán, was a tennis player in his youth. He decided to follow the occupation of his father in playing football when his sister Alejandra was involved in a horrific car accident, which killed her boyfriend and left her in intensive care for five months and handicapped thereafter. In 1995, when he was 16, Forlán was brought to France by manager László Bölöni, and spent several months on trial at AS Nancy. However, the club opted against signing him, and Forlán returned to South America.

Independiente

He has played for several South American clubs, including Argentine side Independiente, where he scored 36 goals in 77 league games. His goalscoring attracted the attention of European sides, and in January 2002 he signed for Manchester United in the English Premier League for a fee of £6.9 million.

Manchester United

Diego Forlán was signed for Manchester United by Sir Alex Ferguson for £6.9 million on 22 January 2002. He made his debut on 29 January as a 76th minute substitute for Ole Gunnar Solskjær in a 4-0 away win at Bolton Wanderers. He made his first start in 4-0 home victory over Tottenham Hotspur on 6 March. Forlán played 13 league and five Champions League appearances in the 2001-02 season but did not score.

On 18 September 2002, Forlán came on as a 56th minute substitute for Ryan Giggs in a Champions League match versus Maccabi Haifa. He scored his first United goal as an 89th minute penalty in the 5-2 win. His first Premier League goal was a 77th minute equaliser in a home 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on 26 October. In Forlán's next Premier League game, at home to Southampton on 2 November, he came on as a 79th minute substitute for United's goalscorer Phil Neville with the score at 1-1, and scored the winner with a dipping shot over Southampton goalkeeper Antti Niemi in the 85th minute. On 1 December he scored his first United brace with goals in the 64th and 67th minute of an away 2-1 Premier League win at rivals Liverpool. Manchester United won the Premier League title in 2002-03, and Forlán scored six goals to make him the club's third best-scoring striker that season after Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

In the 2003-04 season, Forlán played seven Premier League games without scoring from the start of the season. This run was broken on 25 October, when he equalised the score to 1-1 in the 45th minute of a home match versus Fulham, a game which Manchester United lost 3-1. Forlán then scored a goal in his three subsequent matches in three different competitions, starting with an extra-time goal in an away Carling Cup game at Leeds United which Manchester United won 3-2. This was followed by the opener in a 3-0 home Premier League victory over Portsmouth and a 6th minute goal in a win by the same score over Rangers in the Champions League. In his next Champions League game, he scored the 85th minute winner for United over Panathinaikos in a 1-0 away victory. On 6 December 2003, Forlán scored two injury-time goals as Manchester United beat Aston Villa 4-0 at home in the Premier League. These were Forlán's last Premier League goals despite him playing 10 more league games over the season. His only other Manchester United goal was in a 3-0 victory over Northampton Town of Division Three on 24 January 2004 in the FA Cup. Diego Forlán did not feature at all in United's 3-0 victory over Millwall in the 2004 FA Cup Final on 22 May 2004.

He started the 2004-05 season with Manchester United and played in a Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Bucharest and their 3-1 defeat to Arsenal on 8 August in the 2004 FA Community Shield. His last match for United was their first Premier League game that season, a 1-0 defeat away to Chelsea on 15 August.

Villarreal

Forlán was strongly linked with a move to Spanish clubs Levante UD and Athletic Bilbao (although Athletic only permit Basque players, Forlán is of Basque descent), but on 21 August 2004 he signed with Villarreal CF.

Diego Forlán's debut for Villarreal was on 30 August 2004. He started away to rivals Valencia CF and scored his club's goal in the 77th minute of a 2-1 defeat. His next goal came in a home 2-0 win over Real Zaragoza on 3 October, and was followed with an equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Real Mallorca and the final goal of a 4-0 win at home to CD Numancia. Between 12 December 2004 and 16 January 2005, Forlán scored seven goals in five Liga matches, including a brace in a 3-0 home victory over FC Barcelona on 9 January.On 22 May 2005 he scored his first hat-trick for a European club with all of Villarreal's goals in a 3-3 away draw versus eventual league champions FC Barcelona. A week later he scored two in a 4-1 victory over local rivals Levante UD as Villarreal ended the season in third, their first Champions League finsh. Forlán won the 2004-05 Pichichi Trophy for most goals in La Liga, with 25. He also shared the 2005 European Golden Boot with Arsenal striker Thierry Henry.

His goal rate declined in the 2005–06 season as Villarreal underwent several changes, yet the club reached the semi-finals of the Champions League where they were knocked out by Arsenal.

In 2006–07, he ended the season with 19 goals in 36 league appearances (.53 goal every game).

Atlético Madrid

2007–08 season

Forlán was linked with a transfer jointly with Juan Román Riquelme to Atlético Madrid in exchange for Luis Perea plus cash in June 2007. On 30 June 2007, following the departure of their captain Fernando Torres to Liverpool, Atlético Madrid confirmed that they had agreed to a fee of around €21 million. He returned to England in February 2008 to take part in Atlético's UEFA Cup clash against Bolton Wanderers (the club against whom he made his Manchester United debut), but the side lost out 1–0 on aggregate. In May 2008, Forlán helped Atlético qualify for the Champions League for the first time in over a decade, scoring the winning goal against Deportivo La Coruña. He ended his first season in Madrid with 23 goals, and formed a potent partnership with Argentinian striker Sergio Agüero.

2008–09 season

On 9 May 2009, Forlán scored twice against Espanyol to help Atlético clinch Champions League qualification for a second successive year. Los Rojiblancos were trailing 2–0 at half-time and had seen Luis Perea sent off, but came back to win 3–2 thanks to a goal of the season contender from Forlán, as well as a last minute winner. He also scored crucial goals in wins over Barcelona, Villarreal and Valencia. On 23 May 2009, Forlán scored a hat-trick against Athletic Bilbao, which helped him win the La Liga Pichichi Trophy award, as well as the European Golden Boot for a second time. He ended the 2008–09 season with a very impressive 32 goals in 33 matches (essentially a goal per game).

2009–10 season

Forlán started the 2009–10 season slowly, and struggled for form as Atlético made their worst start to a league season since their relegation in 2000. On 24 October 2009, Forlán scored a penalty and missed another as Atlético were held to a 1–1 draw at home against Mallorca, who had played the majority of the second half with just nine players on the field. The disappointing result and performance led to protests from Atlético supporters, as well as criticism for Forlán, who was subsequently left out of the squad for the next game. Atlético started to improve after the arrival new manager Quique Sánchez Flores, and once again, Forlán flourished in the second half of the season, as Atlético reached the finals of both the Europa League and Copa del Rey. On 14 February 2010, Forlán scored the first goal as Atlético beat Barcelona 2–1 at the Vicente Calderón, inflicting the eventual Champions only league defeat of the season. On 22 April 2010, Forlán scored the only goal of the game in Atlético's Europa League semi-final first leg at home to Liverpool. A week later, Liverpool took the tie to extra time before taking a 2–1 aggregate lead. Forlán then scored again to make it 2–2 on aggregate, giving Atlético the away goal they needed to reach the final, in which they played against Fulham at Volksparkstadion on 12 May. Forlán scored twice against Fulham in the final, in a 2–1 win and was awarded man of the match. He ended the season with a total of 28 goals, including six in Atlético's successful Europa League campaign.

2010–11 season

The 2010–11 season began with another trophy for Forlán and Atlético, winning the UEFA Super Cup, beating Internazionale 2–0 in Monaco on 27 August 2010. Again Forlán started the season slowly, and despite finding the net three times in the opening two league games, he then went 12 matches in all competitions without a goal before finally scoring a double in a 3–0 win against Osasuna on 13 November. He speculated Beşiktaş, Real Madrid and American club Seattle Sounders attempted to sign him in the January transfer window.

Internazionale

On 29 August 2011, it was confirmed that Diego Forlán had joined Internazionale following the departure of Samuel Eto'o. He made his debut on September 11 2011, scoring on the first game in a 4–3 defeat at Sicilian club Palermo. On 4 March 2012, Forlán scored his second goal for Inter against Catania in a 2–2 draw.

International career

Forlán made his debut for Uruguay 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 2002 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. He also scored against Brazil in the 35th minute of the 2007 Copa América semi-final. However, he missed his shot during the subsequent penalty shoot-out, which Brazil ultimately won 5–4. Since the 2007 Copa America, Forlán has become a regular for Uruguay, often in the starting XI. On 17 June 2008, he scored a hat-trick in a World Cup qualifying game against Peru.

Diego Forlán and Youri Djorkaeff were, respectively, members of the Uruguay and France squads that met in the 2002 World Cup, in Group A. Their resepctive fathers, Pablo and Jean, featured in the match between Uruguay and France at the 1966 World Cup, which was also in Group A.

Forlán is currently Uruguay's all-time most capped player with 84 caps. On 11 October 2011, he scored his 32nd goal make 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. (Héctor Scarone scored 42 goales in total but 11 of them in unofficial matches).

2002 FIFA World Cup

Forlán was not a regular first-team player at the time of the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, having only made his debut (scoring a goal) against Saudi Arabia earlier that year. Then of Manchester United, Forlán wore the number 21 shirt for Uruguay in the tournament. The manager, Victor Pua, favoured an attacking three of Alvaro Recoba, Sebastian Abreu and Dario Silva. After missing the first two matches of the group (a 2–1 loss to Denmark and a 0–0 draw with France), Forlán came on as a substitute in the final group game against Senegal, as part of a half-time double switch. When he came on for Abreu, his side were 3–0 down. Forlán scored in the 69th minute to make it 3–2 and Recoba equalised from a penalty with two minutes remaining. However Denmark's victory over France put them through ahead of Uruguay.

2004 Copa América

Forlán wore the number 21 for Uruguay at the Copa América in Peru, shortly before his transfer from Manchester United to Villarreal. He played all six games as they, under the management of Jorge Fossati, came third. Forlán's only goal was in the 2–1 victory over Ecuador, Uruguay's only group win. They advanced in third place out of four in the group.

2007 Copa América

Forlán wore the number 21 for Oscar Tabarez's Uruguay team for the 2007 Copa America in Venezuela, shortly after his transfer from Villarreal to Atlético Madrid. He did not score in Group A as they advanced in third out of four, losing 3–0 to Peru, beating Bolivia 1–0, and drawing 0–0 with the hosts.

They met Venezuela again in the first quarter-final on July 7. Forlán scored twice (one after 38 minutes and one in injury time) as his country won 4–1. In the semi-final against eventual winners Brazil, Forlán equalised Maicon's goal to make it 1–1 after 36 minutes, but the game ended 2–2. Uruguay lost on 5–4 on sudden-death penalties with Forlán missing the first one. Afonso Alves missed for Brazil, prompting sudden death, where Diego Lugano missed for Uruguay and Gilberto Melo scored for the Brazilians.

2010 FIFA World Cup

On 16 June 2010, during Uruguay's second group game in the 2010 World Cup against South Africa, Forlán opened the scoring with a long range effort. Later in the game, Forlán scored from the penalty spot 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 in the quarter-final. The game ended 1–1 and Uruguay advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Ghana 4–2 in the penalty shootout. On 6 July 2010, Forlán scored another long range goal, this time with his left foot to equalise against the Netherlands in the semi-final. Despite a half-time score of 1–1, Uruguay eventually lost 3–2 as the Dutch advanced to the final. Forlán became the first player since Lothar Matthäus in 1990 to score three goals from outside the penalty area in one tournament. On 10 July 2010, Forlán scored for the final time in the tournament as he netted a well-executed volley from the edge of the area to give Uruguay the lead. This goal, from a pass by Arévalo Ríos, was selected by FIFA as the Goal of the Tournament. Forlán then hit the crossbar with the final kick of the game from a free-kick as they lost to Germany 3–2 in the third place play-off. Forlán was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. He was also picked for the team of the tournament, and was one of the top scorers at the World Cup with 5 goals.

2011 Copa América

On 24 July 2011, Forlán scored twice after Luis Suarez's opening goal helping Uruguay win their 15th Copa America title and became Uruguay's joint top scorer at international level, his 31 goals matching those of Hector Scarone after beating Paraguay 3–0 in the final . Forlán's father and grandfather were also South American champions with Uruguay over a period spanning the 95 years of the world's oldest active tournament.

International goals and caps

Uruguay's goal tally first.

International appearances and goals
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Result !! Competition !! Goal
	27 March	Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium, Dammam				1 (1)
	17 April
	16 May	Wulihe Stadium, Shenyang
	21 May
	11 June	Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon				1 (2)
	28 March					1 (3)
	8 June	Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul
	20 August					1 (4)
	7 September	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo				1 (5)
	10 September	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
	15 November	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	19 November	Pinheirão, Curitiba				2 (7)
	18 February	Independence Park (Jamaica)
	31 March	[[Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	1 June	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo				1 (8)
	6 June	Estadio Metropolitano, Barranquilla
	7 July	Estadio Elías Aguirre, Chiclayo			2004 Copa América
	10 July	Estadio Elías Aguirre, Chiclayo			2004 Copa América	1 (9)
	13 July				2004 Copa América
	18 July	Estadio Jorge Basadre, Tacna			2004 Copa América
	21 July				2004 Copa América
	24 July	Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega, Cusco			2004 Copa América
	9 October
	27 March
	30 March	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo				1 (10)
	4 June	Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo				1 (11)
	7 June
	17 August	El Molinón, Gijón
	4 September	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	8 October	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito
	12 October	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	12 November	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	1 March	Anfield, Liverpool
	16 August	Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria
	15 November	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi
	2 June	Stadium Australia, Sydney				1 (12)
	26 June				2007 Copa América
	30 June				2007 Copa América
	3 July				2007 Copa América
	7 July				2007 Copa América	2 (14)
	10 July	Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo			2007 Copa América	1 (15)
	14 July				2007 Copa América
	13 October	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo				1 (16)
	17 October	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
	6 February	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	28 May	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo
	14 June	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	17 June	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo				3 (19)
	6 September	Estadio El Campín, Bogotá
	10 September	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	19 November	Stade de France, Paris
	28 March	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo				1 (20)
	1 April
	6 June	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	10 June					1 (21)
	9 September	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	10 October	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito				1 (22)
	13 October	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	14 November
	18 November	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	3 March	AFG Arena, St. Gallen				1 (23)
	26 May	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo				1 (24)
	11 June	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
	16 June	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria				2 (26)
	22 June	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg
	26 June	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
	2 July	Soccer City, Johannesburg				1 (27)
	6 July	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town				1 (28)
	10 July	Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth				1 (29)
	12 October	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan
	17 November
	25 March	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn
	29 March	Aviva Stadium, Dublin
	29 May	Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Sinsheim
	8 June	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	23 June	Estadio Atilio Paiva Olivera, Rivera
	4 July
	8 July
	12 July	Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata
	16 July	Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López
	19 July	[[Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata
	24 July					2 (31)
	7 October	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo
	11 October	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción				1 (32)
	29 February

''Statistics accurate as of match played 29 February 2012''

Career statistics

Club statistics

0 7 18 12 0 6 4 0 25 10 19 16 32 18 8 2

Club	Season	League	Cup	League Cup	Continental	Other	Total
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
rowspan="5"	Independiente		2	|	–		–		0	0	–		2	0
1999–2000 Argentine Primera División	1999–2000	24	|	–		–		0	0	–		24	7
2000–01 Argentine Primera División	2000–01	36	|	–		–		6	2	–		42	20
2000–01 Argentine Primera División	2001–02	18	|	–		–		5	1	–		23	13
!Total	–!!colspan="2"
rowspan="5"	Manchester United		13	|	0	0	0	0	5	0	–		18	0
2002–03 FA Premier League	2002–03	25	|	2	0	5	2	13	1	–		45	9
2003–04 FA Premier League	2003–04	24	|	2	1	1	1	4	2	1	0	32	8
2004–05 FA Premier League	2004–05	1	|	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	3	0
!Total	!63!!10!!4!!1!!6!!3!!23!!3!!2!!0!!98!!17
rowspan="4"	Villarreal		38	|	1	0	–		0	0	–		39	25
2005–06 La Liga	2005–06	32	|	2	0	–		13	3	–		47	13
2006–07 La Liga	2006–07	36	|	4	1	–		2	1	–		44	21
!Total	!106!!54!!8!!1!!colspan="2"
rowspan="5"	Atlético Madrid		36	|	6	1	–		11	6	–		53	23
2008–09 La Liga	2008–09	33	|	3	1	–		9	2	–		45	35
2009–10 La Liga	2009–10	33	|	6	3	–		17	7	–		56	28
2010–11 La Liga	2010–11	32	|	3	1	–		6	1	1	0	42	10
!Total	–!!45!!16!!1!!0!!197!!96
rowspan="2"	Internazionale		13	|	0	0	–		1	0	–		14	2
!Total	!13!!2!!0!!0!!colspan="2"
Career total	!394!!176!!28!!8!!6!!3!!95!!26!!3!!0!!527!!213

International

|- |2002||5||2 |- |2003||7||5 |- |2004||11||2 |- |2005||9||2 |- |2006||3||0 |- |2007||9||5 |- |2008||7||3 |- |2009||9||3 |- |2010||11||7 |- |2011||13||3 |- |2012||1||0 |- !Total||85||32 |- |} ''Statistics accurate as of match played 29 February 2012''

Awards and honours

Club

;Manchester United

Premier League (1): 2002–03

FA Cup (1): 2003–04

FA Community Shield (1): 2003

;Villarreal

UEFA Intertoto Cup (1): 2004

;Atlético Madrid

UEFA Europa League (1): 2009–10

UEFA Super Cup (1): 2010

National team

;Uruguay:

FIFA World Cup:

*4th Place (1): 2010

Copa América:

*Winners (1): 2011

*3rd Place (1): 2004

*4th Place (1): 2007

Individual

EFE Trophy (1): 2004–05

European Golden Shoe (2): 2004–05*, 2008–09

Pichichi Trophy (2): 2004–05, 2008–09

2010 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team

2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball

(* Jointly shared with Thierry Henry)

Personal life

A founding member of Fundación Alejandra Forlán, headed by his sister, Forlán is outspoken on the perils of dangerous driving. Back in 1991, Alejandra suffered a car accident where she lost her boyfriend and became paralyzed as a result. Diego Maradona met Forlán's father during that time, since he was a soccer player in the 1970s, and helped him raise funds for his daughter’s treatment. She became an integral part of his inspiration to play football, and the whole family has gathered round to make sure the foundation is given as high a profile as his in Uruguay.

In 2009, Forlán appeared in a music video for Coti starring alongside Maxi Rodríguez. On July 2010, Forlán had his match-winning antics at the FIFA World Cup 2010 immortalised in the style of the famous Japanese series Captain Tsubasa. The celebratory song was made by the faceless band The Golden Vuvuzelas with music from the Super Robot anime series Mazinger Z.

Forlán announced on 9 March 2011 on his official Twitter page that he and Argentinian model/actress Zaira Nara were engaged to be married. However, in June 2011, Forlán and Nara announced they were breaking their engagement. No reason was released for the breakup.

References

Internazionale Milano move - http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/949710/atletico-madrid-striker-diego-forlan-on-verge-of-inter-milan-move?cc=5901

External links

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Fansite of Diego Forlan

Atlético Madrid profile

BDFutbol profile

Transfermarkt profile

2010 FIFA World Cup profile

Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:People from Montevideo Category:Uruguayan people of Spanish descent Category:Uruguayan people of Basque descent Category:Spanish people of Uruguayan descent Category:Naturalised citizens of Spain Category:Uruguayan footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:Primera División Argentina players Category:Club Atlético Independiente footballers Category:Premier League players Category:La Liga footballers Category:Serie A footballers Category:Manchester United F.C. players Category:Villarreal CF footballers Category:Atlético Madrid footballers Category:F.C. Internazionale Milano players Category:Pichichi Trophy winners Category:Uruguay international footballers Category:2004 Copa América players Category:2007 Copa América players Category:2011 Copa América players Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:Uruguayan expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in Argentina Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain

af:Diego Forlán ar:دييغو فورلان bn:দিয়েগো ফরলান bg:Диего Форлан ca:Diego Martín Forlán Corazo cs:Diego Forlán cy:Diego Forlán da:Diego Forlán de:Diego Forlán et:Diego Forlán el:Ντιέγκο Φορλάν es:Diego Forlán eu:Diego Forlán fa:دیگو فورلان fr:Diego Forlán gl:Diego Forlán ko:디에고 포를란 hy:Դիեգո Ֆորլան hr:Diego Forlán id:Diego Forlán it:Diego Forlán he:דייגו פורלאן ka:დიეგო ფორლანი la:Didacus Forlán lv:Djego Forlans lt:Diego Forlán hu:Diego Forlán mr:दियेगो फोर्लान mn:Диего Форлан nl:Diego Forlán ja:ディエゴ・フォルラン no:Diego Forlán nn:Diego Forlán pl:Diego Forlán pt:Diego Forlán ro:Diego Forlán qu:Diego Forlán ru:Форлан, Диего simple:Diego Forlán sk:Diego Forlán sl:Diego Forlán sr:Дијего Форлан fi:Diego Forlán sv:Diego Forlán th:เดียโก ฟอร์ลัน tr:Diego Forlán uk:Дієго Форлан vi:Diego Forlán zh:迪亞高·科蘭

name	Rashidi Yekini
birth date	October 23, 1963
birth place	Kaduna, Nigeria
height
position	Striker
youthyears1	| youthclubs1
years1	1981–1982 | clubs1 UNTL Kaduna | caps1 ? | goals1 ?
years2	1982–1984 | clubs2 Shooting Stars | caps2 ? | goals2 ?
years3	1984–1987 | clubs3 Abiola Babes | caps3 ? | goals3 ?
years4	1987–1990 | clubs4 Africa Sports | caps4 ? | goals4 ?
years5	1990–1994 | clubs5 Vitória Setúbal | caps5 108 | goals5 90
years6	1994–1995 | clubs6 Olympiacos | caps6 4 | goals6 2
years7	1995–1996 | clubs7 Sporting Gijón | caps7 14 | goals7 3
years8	1997 | clubs8 Vitória Setúbal | caps8 14 | goals8 3
years9	1997–1998 | clubs9 Zürich | caps9 28 | goals9 14
years10	1998–1999 | clubs10 Bizerte | caps10 ? | goals10 ?
years11	1999 | clubs11 Al-Shabab | caps11 ? | goals11 ?
years12	1999–2002 | clubs12 Africa Sports | caps12 ? | goals12 ?
years13	2002–2003 | clubs13 Julius Berger | caps13 ? | goals13 ?
years14	2005 | clubs14 Gateway | caps14 ? | goals14 ?
nationalyears1	1984–1998 | nationalteam1 | nationalcaps1 58 | nationalgoals1 37
ntupdate	}}

Rashidi Yekini (born 23 October 1963) is a Nigerian retired footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Yekini was born in Kaduna. After starting his professional career in the Nigerian league, he moved to Côte d'Ivoire to play for Africa Sports National. From there he went to Portugal and Vitória de Setúbal, where he experienced his most memorable years, eventually becoming the Portuguese first division's top scorer, in 1993–94, as his performances (32 matches, 34 goals) earned him the title of African Footballer of the Year in 1993, the first ever from the nation.

In the 1994 summer, Yekini was bought by Olympiacos FC, but did not get along with teammates and left. His career never really got back on track, not even upon a return to Setúbal, which happened after another unassuming spell, in La Liga with Sporting de Gijón. He successively played with FC Zürich, Club Athlétique Bizertin and Al-Shabab Riyadh, before rejoining Africa Sports. In 2003, at 39, he returned to the Nigerian championship with Julius Berger FC.

In 2005, 41-year old Yekini made a short comeback, moving alongside former national teammate Mobi Oparaku to Gateway FC.

International career

Scoring 37 goals for Nigeria's national side in 58 appearances, Yekini is the national record goalscorer. He was part of the team that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup (where he scored Nigeria's first-ever goal in a World Cup, in a 3–0 win against Bulgaria) and the 1998 World Cup.

Additionally, Yekini also helped the ''Super Eagles'' win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, where he also topped the goal charts, and participated at Olympic level, in Seoul 1988.

References

External links

Stats at ForaDeJogo

BDFutbol profile

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:People from Kaduna Category:Nigerian footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:Shooting Stars F.C. players Category:Julius Berger F.C. players Category:Africa Sports players Category:Primeira Liga players Category:Vitória F.C. players Category:Superleague Greece players Category:Olympiacos F.C. players Category:La Liga footballers Category:Sporting de Gijón footballers Category:Swiss Super League players Category:FC Zürich players Category:CA Bizertin players Category:Nigeria international footballers Category:1994 FIFA World Cup players Category:1998 FIFA World Cup players Category:Olympic footballers of Nigeria Category:Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:1988 African Cup of Nations players Category:1990 African Cup of Nations players Category:1994 African Cup of Nations players Category:Nigerian expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in Côte d'Ivoire Category:Expatriate footballers in Portugal Category:Expatriate footballers in Greece Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain Category:Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Category:Expatriate footballers in Tunisia Category:Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Category:African Footballer of the Year winners

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