Diego Forlán

There are strikers who live off service, and then there was Diego Forlán, who seemed perfectly happy to manufacture the shot himself from thirty metres if the match refused to cooperate. Two footed, intelligent and technically superb, he played between centre forward and second striker with rare freedom, dropping away from markers, linking play and striking the ball with frightening purity. Villarreal gave him the platform, Atlético Madrid gave him the legend, and Uruguay gave him immortality. His 2010 World Cup was one of the great individual tournament performances of the modern era, full of leadership, distance shooting, set pieces and emotional authority. He was not the fastest forward, nor a pure penalty box predator, but his timing, vision and ball striking made him devastating from almost any attacking zone. Forlán was elegance with a cannon attached, a complete forward whose best football felt both clever and spectacular.