For Diego Forlan, India has a special place in his heart. A golden ball winner at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Forlan’s first visit to India was in 2016, where he spent around six months in this part of the world with the Mumbai City FC at the Indian Super League (ISL).
A decade later, Uruguayan returned to India, but in a different capacity, with a bigger responsibility at hand. Having retired from football in 2019, Forlan was named as a successor to , who stepped down as the head coach after Uruguay’s group stage exit at the .
With a team in transition, Uruguay are on their final leg of the tour in the ongoing international window. They started with a loss to Japan, before a thumping win over South Korea. The two-time world champions will play India on October 6 in Kolkata in their final game.
“It’s been almost 10 years since I came here,” Forlán told reporters at the pre-match press conference at the Saltlake Stadium on Monday. “I had the opportunity to play in the ISL for Mumbai City. I spent six months here, playing in Kolkata, Mumbai and different cities. I discovered a really nice country, with a lot of people and a lot of good football players.”
A former student of legendary Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Forlan is learning the nuances of being a coach at the top-most level. With the likes of Ronald Araujo, Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Torreira and Darwin Nunez among notable names in the squad, Forlan knows how to take care of the side, and understands the demands.
“Well, it is different. As a manager, you know, you have to take care of the players, not only about you, it’s about everybody, you know, not only the players, the staff, everybody. And as a player, sometimes, the only thing it’s about the teammates, think about the game. In this case, it’s about 360, you know, you have to think about everything,” he added.
Having spent quality time at Old Trafford for three years (2002-2004), Forlan is taking a cue from with , and wants to implement in his coaching career. “Well, yeah, I had that really, I was privileged to have the opportunity to play for Manchester United over three years,” he recalled.
“He is a great human being. I learned a lot, but I think, you know, the most important thing was the way, he used to treat you as a player, as a person, that’s something that, you know, was really nice with myself and on the players,” added Forlan, whose father Pablo played at the 1966 and 1974 s for Uruguay.
India are coming into this game on the back of a draw and a defeat in this FIFA window. The Blue Tigers first drew 1-1 against 44th ranked Panama, before succumbing in front of five-time world champions Brazil 0-4. Irrespective of the results, Forlan is not taking the Indian team lightly.
Against India, Uruguay will bring their traditional South American virtues of intensity, aggression and physicality alongside considerable technical quality. Real Madrid’s is absent due to an injury. Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Sebastián Cáceres have also returned home injured, while Brian Rodríguez is unavailable.
But even without these names, Uruguay’s deptch and pedigree of the visitors will leave India facing another substantial step up. Uruguay stand 20th in the latest FIFA Rankings while India are way below at 138th.
“India had some really good players. They knew what to do,” said Forlan. “There were some really nice combinations. If you give them time and space, they can damage you, and they can play well. So you have to respect everybody,” he sounded cautious.
