MONTEVIDEO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Uruguayan soccer player Diego Forlan, who excelled in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, was one of the best players in world soccer last year, the Uruguayan Olympic Committee (COU) said on Tuesday.

Forlan, a 31-year-old striker who currently plays for Atletico Madrid in the European clubs league, is also captain for the small South American country's national team that took Uruguay to the semifinals in South Africa, the best result for Uruguayan soccer in 40 years.

Forlan, in a ceremony presented by Uruguay's President Jose Mujica, was late Monday night awarded with the prestigious " Olympic Altar" for particular excellence in sports.

Forlan shared the 2010 award with Uruguayan horse rider Marcelo Chirico, who at just 18 years took home a gold medal from the youth Olympics in Singapore.