Diego Forlan, the former Uruguay , Manchester United and Atletico Madrid striker, is recalling one of the most high-pressure experiences of his career. It came when he was at United — but it happened on the tennis court, not the football pitch. Forlan had been a highly promising tennis player as a youngster, and up until his mid-teens had thought about turning professional in that sport.
In the end, he opted for football, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, father and brother (the former two were Uruguay internationals, as he would become). Advertisement By 2003, having recently turned 24, he was playing for reigning Premier League champions United. On that summer’s pre-season tour in the United States, the club had access to some of the tennis courts at sportswear giant Nike’s headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
Forlan fancied a hit and he was challenged by one of his United team-mates, Netherlands international striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. The whole squad, which featured the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, gathered to watch, alongside their manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who, as the story goes, put money on Forlan winning, knowing of his tennis background. “Everyone just expected me to win, but the pressure was on and nobody knew that inside I was thinking, ‘I have to win!’,” Forlan says now, laughing at the memory.
“I was better than Ruud, but you could see that he used to play when he was a kid. “Sir Alex said, ‘I go for Die.