Diego Forlan: Jo'bulani Please!

As the Uruguayans take the next few days to think about what went wrong in their Semi-Final loss to the Netherlands, many players will be asking themselves What If?

Like striker Luis Suarez who was banned from the match after picking up a red card in Uruguay's dramatic win over Ghana in the previous round. Or Diego Lugano, the team's captain and anchor on defense who wasn't fit to start Tuesday's match because of an apparent leg injury suffered in the previous match. 

However, one player who seemed to do enough and left it all on the pitch was world class striker Diego Forlan.

Throughout the tournament complaints about this year's match ball, the Jo'bulani, have intensified like a crowd of vuvuzelas, but nonetheless one player has stood out from all others with incredible pace and control of the ball, Forlan. Even Portugal's free kick specialist Christiano Ronaldo wasn't able to score with such quality and from such distance.

Forlan opened up Uruguay's offense when he beat South African goal keeper Itumeleng Khune in the Group Stage with a screamer from outside the box and kept the momentum going against Ghana in the Quarterfinals last Friday with a bending shot off of a free kick to level the match, Uruguay went on to survive Extra Time and win on Penalty Kicks.

In Tuesday's Semi-Final against the Netherlands Forlan brought Uruguayans around the world to their feet when he blasted a left-footed 30-yard strike past the Dutch keeper in the 41 minute to level the match at 1-1.

Though the Dutch would go on to win the match 3-2 and advance to the World Cup Final, Forlan, and Uruguay for that matter can keep their heads held high after nearly overcoming 100-1 odds to win the World Cup and making the Semi-Final for the first time since 1970. And with a win against either Spain or Germany on Saturday, Uruguay can place third in the tournament, their highest finish since they won the Cup in 1950.