As has been seen at Leeds United, Marseille and Chile, it is not easy to succeed Marcelo Bielsa. But that’s not why, even as he spoke of 2030, Diego Forlan was not looking too far ahead. His contract after replacing Bielsa as Uruguay head coach is till March 2027.
Asked why he agreed, Forlan, who has 112 caps and 36 goals for Uruguay and won the Golden Ball in the 2010 World Cup, simply said: “Well, the offer was not permanent.”
He still accepted because “it is a great opportunity.” That he took charge after Uruguay were the highest ranked team to exit from the group stage of a 48-team World Cup mattered little, he said. Ranked 19th at the last World Cup, Uruguay are 20th in the world now.
Forlan is also in charge of the under-20 team which he will take to the South American qualifiers for the under-20 World Cup in January.
“Let’s see if I have the chance to continue to the World Cup in 2030 where we are going to have the opportunity to play our first game in Uruguay after 100 years,” he said with a smile.
To mark 100 years of the World Cup, Uruguay, where the first edition was held, will host one match in 2030.
Forlan, 47, is not looking beyond his next game, which will be against India on Tuesday, but he spoke on a wide range of subjects with a small group of journalists. From the Oscar Tabarez years, Uruguay’s reputation for playing rough, and his last visit to Kolkata which ended in a red card, nothing was off topic.
Uruguay are remembered as much for their physical brand of football as being twice Olympic champions (1924, 1928), World Cup winners in 1930 and 1950, and semi-finalists in 1954, 1970 and 2010.
Jose Batista’s 56-second red card against Scotland in the 1986 finals, Luis Suarez biting opponents at club and country, Cavani’s red card in the 2015 Copa America after being provoked by Chile’s Gonzalo Jara and 26 fouls in the 2024 Copa quarter-final against Brazil may have reinforced that opinion.
“I think sometimes people are mistaken a little bit in the way they talk about the way Uruguay play,” said Forlan. “It is not because of how tough we are. It is the way we play till the end of the game. It doesn’t matter who we play but we will make it difficult for the opponents.” Feisty, yes. Fighters, no. “We have great players, a great national team.”
One which is in Kolkata after beating South Korea 4-1. Federico Valverde didn’t travel because of injury but Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Torreira, Darwin Nunez, Rodrigo Zalazar and Ronald Araujo are in the city where Enzo Francescoli, one of Uruguay’s greatest players, made his international debut 44 years ago. “I didn’t know that. Unbelievable,” said Forlan.
Forlan has little experience as manager. He was in charge of Penarol and then Atenas in the Uruguayan second division but the last of his jobs was in 2021. But he has been one of the best footballers his country of 3 million people has produced. One whose father was an international and his first coach.
The experience of being an elite player, he said, can be an advantage. “When you are a manager, of course, it is different but if you were an intelligent player, if you use common sense, in time you would know what to do.
“It’s not that because I won the Golden Ball everything I say will be correct. So, I try to use a lot of common sense, (make sure the players) enjoy what they are doing. Of course, as a manager I will have a way of playing, a way of trying to do things.”
Forlan played under Tabarez who was in charge of the national team for 15 years (2006-21) in his second stint. In the five years since, Uruguay has appointed four coaches. The situation is like how it has been at Manchester United where Forlan played two seasons from 2002.
“With every manager it is a different story but it is about results. In the beginning with Tabarez everything was not that good. He was so near to being sacked. But he stayed and he did what everybody knows in 2010 and 2011. We did a great World Cup. In 2011, we won the Copa America.”
Fourth place in the 2013 Confederations Cup, quarter-finals in 2018 World Cup finals and a 13-game unbeaten run in 2019 were the other highlights of Tabarez’s time as head coach.
Forlan has pleasant memories of his time with Mumbai City FC in 2016. “We had a really nice group.” About Kolkata, not so much. “I was sent off in the (first leg) of the semi-final here. I was disappointed because I think if I wasn’t sent off, we should have won.”
After coming back to lead 2-1, Mumbai City FC lost 2-3 and drew 0-0 at home. “Sunil (Chhetri), great player but could not score (in the return leg).”
Forlan will hope to take better memories of the Salt Lake stadium from this visit.