The Game That Wrote Three Generations Into History

Uruguayan footballer Diego Forlán helped his family mark a special place in footballing history as he guided Uruguay to victory in the Copa America final on Sunday.

Football or Soccer, is truly the world game.  The governing body, FIFA,  has 208 member nations, 15 more than the United Nations.It is played in every country in the world and there are a wide number of top-class leagues all over the globe.

Yesterday, Uruguay won the Copa America, the South American continental football tournament held every 4 years,  beating out early favorites Brazil and Argentina. Aside from the amazing football that is on display at this tournament, it holds a special place as the world’s oldest continental football championship.

The star of the Uruguayan national side was Diego Forlán, a man who has plied his trade at top European clubs for over a decade. Forlán also won the Golden Ball, the prize given to the most outstanding player of the tournament, at last year’s FIFA World Cup.

Despite this career success, it could be said that the most amazing chapter of his career happened during Sunday’s final.

I’m not talking about the 2 goals he scored to help Uruguay beat opponents on the night, Paraguay, 3-0. Rather, by being part of the winning team, Forlán added to his family legacy and joined father Pablo Forlán and grandfather Juan Carlos Corazo, as winners of the competition for Uruguay.

The Forláns are by no means the world’s only notable footballing family. There is a long tradition of sons, nephews, grandchildren and other relatives following in their famous footballing family’s footsteps (you can find a huge list here)

They aren’t even the biggest – There are several footballing families with 7 or more professional footballers in the ranks and the Allen Family from England have 8 (see the tree below) – but these are lists of families with multiple professional footballers, not multiple tournament winners.

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The win yesterday means that the Forláns are now one of the most successful cross-generational family of footballers ever, particularly when you consider their direct lineage.

Congratulations to Diego, his family and the Uruguay national squad for their various achievements on the weekend. Very well deserved.