A World Cup hero back where it started
Sixteen years ago he was the best player at a World Cup. Now Diego Forlan is being asked to drag Uruguay out of one. The federation confirmed on Thursday that the former striker, at 47, will take over as head coach, doubling up with the U20s for the age-group Copa America. For the man voted the standout performer in 2010, it is a homecoming loaded with feeling.
He steps in for Marcelo Bielsa, whose spell unravelled at the finals. La Celeste scraped together two points and went out in the group stage. For a country that reached a semi-final in 2010 and lifted the Copa America a year later, that stung.
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A gamble dressed up as a coronation
Here is the catch. Forlan has barely coached. A stint at Penarol, then CA Atenas in the second division, and not much beyond that. The federation is betting on the aura as much as the CV. His deal runs to the March 2027 qualifiers, when everyone will take a hard look at where things stand.
The appointment is popular, no question, and a risk at the same time. Forlan knows the Uruguay dressing room from the inside, having lived in it for a decade. Turning that familiarity into points, in a South American qualifying group that spares nobody, is the real job.
The rebuild starts now
No easing-in period. Uruguay want that grim World Cup filed away and forgotten. Forlan has a handful of months to sell his ideas to a squad that needs convincing.
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