© EuroFootball.com
Uruguayan national team and Spanish forward Diego Forlan asked the head coach of the national team, Jorge Fossati, not to invite him to represent his country for some time. The player, who had recently clashed with his fellow countryman Paolo Montero in the team's locker room, expressed his dissatisfaction with the little playing time he was getting on the field.
"He came to my house and said he had no desire to be called up to the team," said the Uruguayan national team's strategist. "I hope he changes his mind, but I can't promise him a place in the starting lineup."
Meanwhile, the player's father, Pablo, told the newspaper "El Pais" that the statement that his son had left the national team "is too harsh." The father explained that his son would never leave his country's national team, and added that Diego "simply shrugged his shoulders at the national team coach."
Forlan, who transferred to Villarreal from Manchester United in August, appeared at the end of Saturday's match against the Argentine national team, which the Uruguayans lost 4-2. He watched the match against Bolivia, which ended 0-0, from the substitutes' bench.
In the match against the Argentine national team, the Uruguayan striking duo consisted of the team's top scorer, Javier Chevanton, who has already scored five goals, and Dario Silva. For the game against Bolivia, the coach chose a duo of Richard Morales and Vicente Sanchez.
In the South American group qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Uruguayan national team occupies the 7th place out of ten teams, having 11 points after 10 matches.
Forlan, who has scored nine goals in 23 matches for the national team, did not start in the starting lineup for any of the five qualifying matches under former national team goalkeeper Fossati. Last April, Fossati was replaced in the head coach position by the eccentric Juan Ramon Carrasco. However, it is worth mentioning that Forlan started all six "Copa America" matches in the starting lineup.
