Forlan follows in family footsteps

BUENOS AIRES - Diego Forlan completed a remarkable achievement for his family with Uruguay's record 15th Copa America title on Sunday.

Forlan'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.

"My generation, my grandfather, my father and I have gone down in football history," Forlan said after Uruguay's victory at River Plate's Monumental packed with 55,000 fans.

"It makes me very proud that my grandfather was a champion, my father too, it doesn't happen every day," he said after contributing two goals to Uruguay's 3-0 win over Paraguay in the final.

Forlan ended a year without scoring for his country and his two goals put him equal as Uruguay's top international marksman with the late Hector Scarone, a World Cup and double Olympic soccer title winner between 1924 and 1930.

His maternal grandfather, Juan Carlos Corazo, and 66-year-old father, Pablo, a defender at the 1966 and 1974 World Cups, played in Uruguayan sides that won the South American crown.

The 32-year-old Forlan, capped a record 82 times, also followed his grandfather's footsteps at club level by starting his career at Argentina side Independiente in Buenos Aires before embarking on a European career that has taken him via Manchester United and Villarreal to Atletico Madrid.

Uruguay's 15 titles, one more than host Argentina which it upset on penalties in the quarter-finals, include winning in 1987 over Chile at the Monumental in Buenos Aires and its last at home in 1995 when it beat Brazil at the Centenario in Montevideo.

Reuters

(China Daily 07/26/2011 page22)