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Diego Godin in defence of his teammate Diego Forlan

Diego Godin has spoken out in defence of his teammate Diego Forlan, who has struggled to hit the net all season.
Godin, who turns out with Forlan for the Uruguayan national team as well, has seen first-hand what the striker is capable of, having played together at the 2010 World Cup, where Forlan went on to win the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament.

The normally-lethal striker, who was won the Pichichi trophy, awarded to La Liga's top scorer of each season, twice before, has struggled to translate last summer's exploits onto the club stage this year, having only netted nine goals from 31 games in all competitions.
Atletico manager Quique Sanchez Flores has recently stated that Forlan and his striker partner Sergio Aguero need to start firing soon if the club are to have any chance of qualifying for Europe next season.

However, Godin has since defended his compatriot, suggesting it was the team's performance as a whole that was starving the frontman of goalscoring opportunities.
"No one [at the club] is against Forlan. He always wants to score and perhaps he needs more to feel confident, but he is doing well," Godin was reported as saying by Marca.com.

"Against Getafe there were not many clear chances on goal, and perhaps the lack of goals are noticed from Forlan as he is the one leading the team forwards."

With a match against fellow European qualification contenders Villarreal on Saturday, Godin has asked his team to focus solely on the clash.

"We cannot think about losing as we have aspirations for European football."
"Villarreal are a tough team to beat as they play really well. We must do our best and improve on mistakes. It will be a hard game."

Atletico are currently 8th in La Liga, fifteen points behind fourth-placed Villarreal, and will be looking to kickstart their climb to European qualification with a win this weekend.

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