Diego Forlan has been one of the brightest stars at the World Cup. The former Manchester United and Villarreal man, who now plays for Atletico Madrid, led Uruguay to a deep run in South Africa. He made comments after the match against the Netherlands to the online portal, Ovacion, of the Montevideo newspaper, El Pais. Forlan discussed his injury, the disappointment of a lost opportunity and his personal joy over his four goals in South Africa. Forlan’s teammate, Sebastian Abreu and their boss, Oscar Washington Tabarez, weighed in with their thoughts about the fighting spirit of Uruguay. Tabarez accepted the apparent offside position of the second goal by the Netherlands without any complaints.
“Ni tristeza ni bronca. Lo que siento más que nada es impotencia“.
“Neither sadness or gutted. What I feel more than anything is impotence.”
On His Injury: “The pain was getting worse… I don’t like to go out that way.”
Explica que su sensación es producto de:
“No haber estado físicamente para ayudar en lo que uno puede y en la medida que hubiera querido“.
Contó que su salida fue porque:
“tengo un dolor en el cuádriceps, arriba del tendón. No estaba para seguir dando una mano. El dolor fue aumentando y la lástima es que cuando los tuvimos ahí, para hacerles el segundo gol, yo ya no estaba bien. Eso es lo peor para mí, porque no me gusta irme de esta manera, sin poder dar lo que uno puede… Espero que para el sábado esté mejor“.
Translation:
He explained that his state is a product of:
“Not having been fit to help out how one can and in the way that I would have wanted.”
He recounted that he was subbed out because:
“I had a pain in the quadriceps above the tendon. I wasn’t able to continue lending a hand. The pain was getting worse and the shame is that when we had been chasing the second goal, I wasn’t feeling well. That was the worse thing for me because I don’t like to be subbed out that way. Without doing what you could… I hope that it will be better for Saturday (the third place game in Port Elizabeth).”
“It was a unique opportunity.”
“Es una lástima, ¿no? Era una oportunidad única. Está claro que no perdimos ante un rival cualquiera, pero no fue un partido en el que se pueda decir que nos ha superado. Lo tuvimos ahí y hubo momentos en los que estuvimos cerca. Si hacíamos el segundo gol, cuando mejoramos después del descanso, pienso que el partido cambiaba“.
“Is it a pity, no? It was a unique opportunity. It’s clear that we didn’t lose against just any opponent. But it wasn’t a game that one can say that we were dominated. We played and there were times when we were close. If we had scored the second goal, when we were getting better right after the break, I think that the game would have changed.”
On His Goals
La alegría personal fue su cuarto gol en el Mundial:
“Ando derecho, los tres que hice así, ya sea con pelota quieta o en jugada de campo, fueron más o menos del mismo lado“.
Translatoin:
The personal happiness was over his fourth goal at the World Cup.
“I went to the right. The three that I scored were like this on set pieces or during the run of play. They were more or less from the same side.”
Sebastian Abreu: “Had it been another team, who knows if they would have thrown in the towel.”
“Creo que Uruguay dio una demostración de tesón y orgullo, sobre todo después de los dos impactos que recibimos en menos de cinco minutos (por el segundo y tercer gol holandés), que si hubiera sido otro equipo quizás tiraba la toalla antes de tiempo y nosotros luchamos hasta el final“.
“I believe that Uruguay gave a demonstration of tenacity and pride. Above all, after the twin impacts that we received in less than five minutes (for the second and third Dutch goals). Had it been any other team, who knows if they would have thrown in the towel before time and we fought until the very end.”
Oscar Tabarez: “It was a match worthy of a World Cup semi-final.”
“Fue un partido digno de una semifinal de una Copa del Mundo. Estoy orgulloso de mis futbolistas, aceptamos la derrota, el rival estuvo mejor, pero dignificamos el partido con esas ganas de no perder. Estamos tristes porque demostramos que no estuvimos tan lejos, y para nosotros es satisfactorio más allá de la derrota, eso está claro“.
“It was a match worthy of a World Cup semi-final. I am very proud of my players. We accept the defeat, the opponent was better but we honored the game with our fighting spirit of not wanting to lose. We are sad because we demonstrated that we weren’t too far off and for us, it is satisfactory. But it was a defeat. That is clear.”
On the Apparent Offside Position of the Second Dutch Goal: “It’s not the time to cry or look for excuses.”
“Acabo de ver el segundo de Holanda y fue un claro fuera de juego. Pero bueno… son cosas del partido, no es la primera vez que pasa en un mundial, o en otro torneo, hoy nos tocó a nosotros, pero no es momento de llorar ni buscar excusas.”
“I have just seen the second goal by the Netherlands and it was a definite offside. But well, they are part of the game. It’s not the first time that it happens at the World Cup or in another tournament. Today, it happened to us but it is not the time to cry or look for excuses.”
Spanish source: Ovacion, July 7, 2010.
Steve Amoia is a freelance writer, editor and translator from Washington, D.C. He writes the World Football Commentaries blog. He has written for AC Cugini Scuola Calcio (Italian soccer school), Football Media, Keeper Skool and Soccerlens.
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