CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Not all is lost for Uruguay striker Diego Forlan.
Even after his team lost to the Netherlands in the semifinals, Forlan has something to aim for at the World Cup. He hopes a right thigh injury will not stop him from playing in the third-place playoff match as he attempts to win the top scorer's award.
Uruguay will take on Germany in Port Elizabeth on Saturday. Forlan has four goals in the tournament, one fewer than leading scorers Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands and Spain's David Villa.
Forlan was replaced in the 84th minute of the 3-2 semifinal loss to the Dutch on Tuesday because of the injury. He earlier scored Uruguay's opening goal.
"I'm hoping to be there on Saturday," said Forlan, who said he was hurt in the first few minutes against the Dutch.
People are also reading…
Forlan has a total of five goals across two World Cups. He also scored at the 2002 event in South Korea and Japan.
Airport delays force fans to miss semifinal
Two planeloads of fans headed for the World Cup semifinal between Spain and Germany were forced to miss the match after they were turned away from Durban's King Shaka international airport on Wednesday.
Three other planes were allowed to land but the severe delays caused supporters to miss at least the start of the match, airport operations director Bongani Maseko said. He said around 300 fans were on the planes diverted away from the Durban airport, while more than 300 more were affected by the delays.
Corner kicks
• FIFA has not yet decided who will present the World Cup trophy to the winning captain on Sunday.
Former South Africa president Nelson Mandela is likely to perform the honor if the 91-year-old anti-apartheid icon is well enough to attend the match at Soccer City, but FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot said on Wednesday there is "no information on this so far."
• Serbia's association says national team coach Radomir Antic was handed a four-match suspension by FIFA for "inappropriate behavior" after a match against Australia. It was not immediately clear why Antic has been punished, although he criticized the refereeing of the match in question, which Serbia lost 2-1 and was eliminated.
