Uruguay striker Diego Forlan left Cape Town devastated on Tuesday night but is at least able to look back on the best year of his career.

Forlan scored his fourth goal of the tournament against Holland, but it was not enough to stop Bert Van Marwijk's men winning 3-2. After the disappointing result, Forlan has been left to pick the positives out of a season where he won the Europa League with Atletico Madrid, then reached the last four of the World Cup.

"It has been the best year of my career," said the 31-year-old. "But we are still so disappointed because we were so close to a World Cup final."