“He made the Scousers cry”

They label him a flop and laugh at his spell at Old Trafford.

They call him Sally Gunnell and laugh at his goal return in relation to his fee.

But mock him as much as you want because even if he wasn’t a roaring success as Old Trafford, one thing Diego Forlan learnt in his time at the club was how to make the Scousers cry and it is a skill he mastered.

Signing from Independiente in 2002 it took Diego 8 months to find the net the but all was forgotten in December 2002 when Diego hit a brace to sink Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield. He became a cult hero and his exploits spawned the song:

Diego-woah ohh ohh,
Diego-whoah ohh ohh,
He came from Uruguay,
He made the Scousers cry.

and this past week he had the Scousers reaching for the Kleenex again.

The warning signs were there when he scored a goal in a preseason game at Anfield last August, he then grabbed a goal in Spain to hand Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Europa League semi final last week and his extra time winner in the second leg last night sent Liverpool crashing out of the Europa League when the final was within touching distance.

So here’s to our long haired lover from Montevideo (see what I did there?) and I wish him the best of luck in the final where he will be taking on Roy Hodgson’s Fulham.

and just for extra measure: