JOHANNESBURG, KOMPAS.com - Uruguay striker Diego Forlan was on Sunday awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the 2010 World Cup, FIFA announced.
The difference between success and failure in football is often measured in inches, and so it proved for Uruguay and star striker Diego Forlan on Saturday. With the last kick of the game in the third-place playoff against Germany, Forlan’s freekick cannoned off the crossbar and Germany held on for a 3-2 at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Inches lower and Uruguay would have taken Germany to extra time and Forlan would have become outright leading scorer at the tournament with six goals. “Only a tiny thing was missing with the freekick,” Forlan said as Uruguay lost 3-2 in a thrilling match — and missed out on third place and its best finish at a World Cup in 60 years. Despite the small margin, Forlan made a big impact for his country at the World Cup with his five goals, tying him with three other players — Germany’s Thomas Mueller, Spain’s David Villa and the Netherlands’ Wesley Sneijder — as leading scorer.
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