How Diego Forlan became a Man Utd cult hero despite being a transfer flop
Forlan then played a key role as a starter for United in a thrilling 5-3 win over Newcastle, laying on two assists for Van Nistelrooy, and retained his place in Ferguson’s lineup for a trip to Liverpool eight days later. It was that fateful Saturday afternoon at Anfield that ultimately defined his legacy with the Red Devils.
The first 60-odd minutes of the game were scrappy, and it felt like only a piece of individual magic or a big error would break the deadlock. It turned out to the be latter.
Jamie Carragher headed a loose ball back to Jerzy Dudek for what should have been a simple catch, but somehow, the Liverpool ‘keeper let it slip under his legs, and Forlan reacted sharply to pass it into the empty net. The United striker went to remove his shirt after wheeling away in euphoria, only to pull it back down in an amusing last-second act of restraint.
While that goal was more about luck than anything else, Forlan’s second was an emphatic piece of technical brilliance. Barely three minutes later, Ryan Giggs rode two tackles and poked the ball through to Forlan on the edge of the penalty area, and he proceeded to rifle a fearsome strike in at Dudek’s near post. Yes, Dudek should have done better, but Forlan’s execution was flawless.
Sami Hyypia pulled one back for Liverpool, but United held on for a famous victory, with Fabian Barthez pulling off an astounding save to keep out Dietmar Hamann late on. It was Forlan who was the true saviour, though.
“You know, the thing I remember is, of course, the goals – every time I see them on TV – but it was after the game when Gary [Neville] came to me and said you don’t know what you did. You will be remembered for years,” Forlan said when recalling the game on United’s media channel in 2022.
Sure enough, the United fandom created a special chant for Forlan to the tune of Dean Martin’s song Volare. The lyrics “Diego, whoooah, Diego, whoooah, He came from Uruguay, and made the Scousers cry” have been a terrace staple ever since, even sung during a match against Sunderland in April 2017, which left then-Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho baffled.
Forlan added: “I knew it was something important but, you know, I didn’t know in that moment, until now, after 20 years, they would still be singing my name. It’s unbelievable.” He also said in an interview withGQ in 2019: “I get goosebumps every time I hear it. I’m not Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or another United legend, nor am I the only player to have scored at Anfield, so it feels a privilege to be remembered. I was getting so few minutes in the team that I didn’t even feel like I was a proper footballer until that game.”
