Uruguayan footballer Diego Forlan, who won the Golden Ball as best player at the FIFA 2010 World Cup, has been signed up to spearhead a campaign to boost tourism to his homeland.

The blond centre forward will be the face of Uruguayan tourism in a campaign that will run to end of the next Southern Hemisphere summer season, and run throughout Latin America.

Forlan is doing a photo shoot and recording short film in Madrid, where he currently plays for La Liga side Atletico Madrid. His monologue will be accompanied by images of the national team in action at the World Cup in South Africa, cut with views of Uruguay’s beaches and countryside.

Forlan is the fourth South American player that has received the Golden Ball in the FIFA World Cup tournament. He also was chosen in the best team of the tournament in South Africa, and he was one of the top goalscorers with five goals. Manchester United are thought to be eyeing up a sensational bid to bring Forlan back to the club from Atletico Madrid. He had a difficult two-year spell at the Premiership club but has enjoyed a rich run of form since leaving for Spain in 2004.