Diego Forlán: “I really enjoy playing at Atlético de Madrid”
He’s already an undisputable idol of the Atlético de Madrid fans. It took barely six months for Diego Forlán, with his play and his goals, to put the Madrid fans in his pocket. The Uruguayan striker acknowledges that his adaptation has been easy thanks to the others in the locker room, emphasizing that his dream is to win a title of some sort this season.
The Uruguayan forward commented, to begin, that he feels “very happy to be at Atlético de Madrid, because I’m at a really nice Club. It’s a good group and that makes our coexistence positive and allows us to face everything with a stronger desire. Besides, Madrid is a really beautiful city. Yeah, I’m really enjoying playing at Atlético. I form part of a good squad and I have a good time, although I’ll acknowledge that at the same time I notice the responsibility that it means to play at a Club like this. Nevertheless, you have to enjoy all of this because the atmosphere that surrounds the team is unbeatable. That makes all of the players give more on our part so that things go as well as possible”.
Many of Atlético’s matches have been spectacular and Diego stressed that “we’ve had many games with lots of goals, but I’m of the opinion that each one is different. Without going any further, in the match against Panathinaikos we won at the last minute. In short, we’re doing fine, going from match to match, enjoying and trying to play good football”.
Forlán has realized that since he started wearing the red and white of the team that “Atlético is a Club with an enormous following on the part of their fans and has a large media impact , but I acknowledge that it’s surpassed by expectations. It has many fans and is very well followed on a worldwide level. Also, from the front office on down, the humanistic touch that exists is very important. All of that makes it want you to face the day-to-day with a strong desire. My intention, and that of my teammates, is to achieve our goals to satisfy all of those people who follow and support us every match”.
Atlético has played the first half of the campaign in a noteworthy manner, but the striker indicated that “I don’t like to give the team a grade. Atlético is fine, but we have to go little by little. The important thing is to be close to the places at the head during the entire season. Everything is decided at the end, which means that you have to be consistent at all times so as not to fall away from the top spots and then try to finish things off later. I’ll insist that we have to go match to match and not think about a specific position”.
Second round
Forlán added that “fighting for the League title isn’t easy because Real Madrid and Barcelona are there, and then you have teams that are battling for Champions and UEFA spots, such as Villarreal and Espanyol. I believe that Real Madrid and Barcelona are a step above us with regard to their rosters, but we want to be up there with humility and hard work. Anyway, there’s lots of League left and we’ll have to see what happens, though we’re not thinking about that”.
The general feeling of the squad is similar to that of the Uruguayan, who reminded that this is “when I won the Golden Boot. I wasn’t thinking about it, but things happened over the course of the season and in the end I was able to win it even though it wasn’t one of my goals. The opportunity presented itself to me at the end of the season and I didn’t waste it. We’d love to win some title, but it’s going to be a bit complicated. We’ll see if we’re in a position to fight for one of the championships as time passes. There’s quite a bit of League, King’s Cup and UEFA left, and we’ll see if we have real options in one of them. We’re on the right track, but there’s a lot left”.
He didn’t hesitate when it came time to assess the team’s roster, emphasizing that “there are great players at Atlético; players who sacrifice themselves in defense, but who also have great skill and can score a lot of goals. This is something important and determinant to fight for one of the competions in which we’re competing. We have good defensive security we have several players up top who are capable of scoring goals”.
When he has to speak inthe first person, Forlán left it clear that “I don’t like to talk about the goals that I score. I always want to score goals, but I also like contributing things to the team with other plays”.
What he did stress was that “I usually play better in the second rounds of league play. I always think that you have to take advantage of the moments and try not to think too much about the fact that I play better during one part of the competition that the other. I know that the year I led the Liga in scoring or that last year I put in lots of goals in the final three months of the season. I was a bit more inconsistent in other parts of the year than at the end of the campaign”.
Diego is well surrounded and when asked about which of his teammates has most attracted his attention he affirmed that “nobody has surprised me because the are all skilled. Sure, I’ve been getting to know footballers such as Raúl García, who plays at a high level and is having a great season. Then there’s Kun, who is a highly skilled and very young footballer with many good eyars in front of him. Anyway, there are footballers who can play really well”.
The Atletico supporters are delighted with Forlán, but the striker, to finish, wouldn’t dare to affirm that his play has surprised those in the stands more than expected: “I know that it’s different for them to see you in a sporadic manner, only twice a year, than every Sunday. I don’t know if I’m surprising the Atlético fans, but I’m trying to play as well as I can. I can only say that I’m happy and comfortable at Atlético and I’m trying to make the people at this Club enjoy good football”.
From:
clubatleticodemadrid.com
