Diego Forlan may not have won a medal at the World Cup, but that doesn't mean he's going home empty handed.
Forlan was awarded the Golden Ball for being the World Cup's best player as voted on by accredited media. Forlan helped lead Uruguay to a fourth-place finish, its best World Cup since 1970.
Germany's Thomas Muller won two awards. Muller claimed both the Young Player Award and the Golden Boot with five goals scored. David Villa, Wesley Sneijder and Forlan each scored five goals as well, but Muller won the award due to his three assists.
The Golden Glove award, given to the tournament's top goalkeeper, was won by Iker Casillas.
Think Forlan deserved the Golden Ball award? Should somebody else have won? Agree with Casillas getting the Golden Glove award? Surprised that Thomas Muller claimed both the Young Player Award and the Golden Boot?
Share your thoughts below.
Xavi is good because of the way the team plays around him. Forlan could have his entire team stand still and he would still create, I cannot say the same about Xavi.
Would any team be in the World Cup without their players?
Every player is in contention for the award, but only one wins it. Sorry brother.
I thought Forlan deserved the award based on all the games I saw. Having said that, I was complaining before the match last night that they would never give Forlan the award since Uruguay did not make it to the final. Glad to see I was proved wrong!
He should have stopped Forlan’s shot in the semis.
Also… In the final: two breakaways stonedwalled to one.
Lol Xavi really? He is good but even I can pass to an open team mate thats 3 feet from me every time. Xavi had Iniesta, Villa, Xavi ALonso, etc. need I say more? Forlan played attacking midfielder lonely striker left midfielder, what more do you want from the Guy?
Diego Forlan has become my favorite player. Sadly, because he’s from Uruguay he won’t get the same recognition as Pele, Maradona, or Zidane.
If it meant having their success, a lot of teams in the world would like to have a brain trust as stupid as Man U’s.
When he was at Man U., Forlan wasn’t the player he is today.
Forlan… all the way! He deserved it. Very happy to hear this news. He was the heart of that surprising South American team. Amazing tournament for him and Uruguay. Felicidades a España tambien!
Glad to see Forlan get the credit he deserves. After a disastrous stint at ManU, he carried Villarreal to the Champions League, and has continued his goal-scoring at Atletico.
Park Chu-Young of South Korea scored one against Nigeria
How good is Forlan? I’d take him over Rooney or Ronaldo any day. And seriously, how stupid are the ManU brain trust to bench him? I’m so glad he left that hellhole.
The assist that Forlan dished out to Suarez was one of the best assists of the tournament. I think it was the Mexico game.
To me, Forlan is by far the best choice for the Golden Ball award. I am happy for him, as at least Uruguay has something to celebrate.
Wesley Scneijder had a good tournament, but even if the Dutch had won today, Forlan made more of an impact on his team’s game (and scored beautiful goals, too).
Good for Thomas Muller, too, since he (and Ozil) were the two young revelations of this tournament.
Curse my incorrect French grammar and the ill attempt at humor that spawned it!
The guy had a hell of a tournament, he deserves to have his name pronounced correctly.
Dude you dock Forlan for having Suarez, yet no mention of Xavi having Iniesta, David Villa, Torres/Fab/Pedro/Navas?
p.s. Forlan was as much of a playmaker for Uruguay as he was a goal scorer.
Amen brother. I’m a huge Forlan fan now after watching him in the world cup. No flopping, just hard work with beautiful technique. Thank goodness he didn’t have any of the drama of some of the other big players of this tournament.
Is FIFA still doing the “Most Entertaining Team” award? I would honestly and objectively vote the USA for that one, although I could see an argument for Germany.
to use a cheeseball american sports cliche….”he put the team on his back” In soccer thats probably the hardest thing to do but he did it. I wanna shake the dude’s hand and say thank you
Golden ball thoughts…
Forlan scores for his good, underdog team…but has a terror in Suarez creating space for him.
Snejder scores luckily for his very good team…but has Kuyt and Van Persie drawing defenders’ attention away from him.
Muller scores and runs for his very good and efficient team…but has Schweini and Ozul behind & in front of him.
And Xavi controls the game for his excellent footballing machine of a team that Won the World Cup…and could do the same with anyone in front of him.
A playmaker such as Xavi deserves the award as he is Spain’s heartbeat- perhaps a 10x version of Schweini (who is excellent as well) who dictates play from all parts of the field-the backline and the front. I suggest catching a repeat viewing of Spain’s games and see how dominant the guy is.
Forlan would be my second choice.
Plus I don’t know how Mueller would have helped them counter Iniesta’sshin-exploding-then-fast-recovery-to-cause-opposing-teams-to-get-cards-ability.
Spain actually won the Fair Play Award.
When does the all-tournament team get announced?
Holy crap, I was going to write about how great I thought Forlan was, but I can’t do better than this. Bravo.
Forlan had one against Ghana. It was a rocket
Forlan is a decent choice, but there were other worthy choices like Villa or Schneider. Would Spain have won the world cup without Villa, who accounted for more than 50% of Spain’s scoring? Would the Dutch be in the final without Schneider? His two goals sent Brazil home. Germany, the highest scoring team, also has several players could could also be in contention.
Justice is served.
Whoever said that Forlan was the face of this tournament is spot on. He delivered a performance for the ages…maybe the best since Maradona in ’86. Zidane had a great final in ’98 and a few good games in ’06, Ronaldo came up big in the ’02 final, Romario likewise in the semi-final against Sweden in ’94…but Forlan showed up in every game, seemed to have a hand in just about every goal, and carried Uruguay when needed. I doubt Uruguay would have progressed this far without their talisman. Great goals, great vision, great heart.
Stekelenburg kept Netherlands in through the lead up to the final.
Forlan was a treat to watch. He was also a treat for my fantasy team.
I can’t argue with any of the awards.
Hey Mr. Grammar Police:
That would be Ballon de Merde.
Which is what you get for your French.
Muller was a monster this tournament. He has a very bright future.
it was two from Japan
Correct. He had no problems with Jabulani. Kudos to all the winners.
This was the easiest choice ever.
I think its really hard to guess if Germany wins versus Spain(this coming from a German fan) but Germany would have looked a little different. It sucked that he missed the game because such a bad call.
Can’t argue with Forlan winning the golden ball.
Patrick, Forlan scored on a deadball against Ghana.
I liked how Schweinsteiger played too. Someone said he played like Tostao in that game against Argentina lol. Muller did a great job also. But yeah Forlan was everywhere during the World Cup. It reminded me of Davor Suker in 1998 for some reason, probably because he was the leader of his team. When his team needed him he was there unlike many others. And Snijder did a good job as well but not to the level some (cough, cough) thought.
Forlan = well-deserved Golden Ball winner.
North Korea should win Fair Play award. They played with class, and seeing Jong Tae-Se’s emotion during the anthem before the Brazil game was one of the best images in this tournament.
Seriously what is your issue with France and Ballon d’Or? Beyond unnecessary
Hell yeah Forlan deserved the Golden Ball.
+1
He absolutely deserved it. Granted, I didn’t see every minute of every game, but Forlan was exceptional and represented the game very well.
Mueller (if you don’t put the umlaut over the ‘u’ then you need an ‘e’ to preserve the correct pronunciation) was deserving too, but also had the better supporting cast.
No complaints about the other awards.
The balon d’merde goes to France of course, 😉
Good Job Forlan.
Can’t argue with any of these awards.
New Zealand should get a special award for being the only unbeaten team!! What were the odds of that happening…
Japan had a goal directly from a free kick, Im pretty sure
Forlan plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played; it’s too bad more players won’t play the way he does. There is far too much diving and mindless games in the game and too little effort. He, and a few other players, really showed how to play the game well, and he deserves any and all accolades that he receives.
Muller was a beast! I know the Spanish fans will disagree with me, but that would have been a different semifinal if he had been in there. The guy just plays the game with no fear or heistation, and Germany needed that mentality against Spain. He’s not a ball boy anymore!
The rest of the awards are all well deserved.
Just in case someone wants to argue the Golden Glove:
Casillas kept his team in the final and posted how many clean sheets?
That’s what I thought.
not really directed at anyone but i was thinking about Forlans near mis at the end of the germany game, and other than the Japan goal, did anyone score directly from a free kick? I can’t think of any others. I’d be interested to see 2010 vs 2002 and 2006.
Forlan had a monster tournament – watching him link with Suarez was entertaining soccer. His attacking mindset and good teamwork was a nice contrast to the players who ruined their chances by playing selfisihly (looking at you C. Ronaldo. putting EVERY free kick on net regardless of distance is a waste of set-piece and possession) or played so nervous/cautious that they never really found their form
Diego Forlan is to me the image of htis world cup. He was the epitomy of a hard nosed but clean, clreative player who rose to the occassion on the big stage. He is absoultely…THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD