Uruguay striker Diego Forlan was named the FIFA Player of the Tournament on Sunday after the World Cup final.
I was pleasantly surprised when news filtered through that the Atletico Madrid star had won the Golden Ball award because the winner usually comes from one of the traditional superpowers who have either won the World Cup or reached the final.
To see him edge out more illustrious names such as David Villa and Wesley Sneijder (second and third respectively) in the prestigious poll of accredited media representatives, will have raised a number of eyebrows.
However, I believe the award is merited. Forlan was a constant menace to defenses in the tournament as Uruguay finished fourth. Whether playing as a striker or floating behind Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani in a deeper role, Forlan was always a goal threat and some of his link-up play with teammates was tremendous. Compared to Villa and Sneijder, Forlan was not surrounded by teammates of particularly high caliber (Uruguay's midfield was workmanlike but nothing more), but still managed to excel. He was also one of the few to master the Jabulani ball, producing an excellent free-kick and some other quality strikes from distance.
Had his free-kick in the final seconds of the third-place playoff against Germany nestled in the net rather than hitting the bar, we may even have finished top scorer. Instead Forlan lost out to Thomas Mueller who also finished with five goals, but claimed more assists.
Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images
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Uruguay World Cup star striker Diego Forlan is here in Kolkata. Football fans in the City of Joy have a long tradition of inviting and honouring renowned international footballers. Forlan played a major role in getting his modest team among the top four in South Africa. He has a huge following among soccer lovers in different parts of India.
That’s way more clever than I was expecting. Thansk!