The Atletico Madrid star, whose two goals against Fulham in Hamburg last month handed the Spanish side victory in the inaugural Europa League final, was taking part in his country's first training session in South Africa.

The former Manchester United player and reported Tottenham target collided with midfielder Walter Gargano and appeared to injure his left foot, according to South Africa's TimesLive website.

Forlan, said the report, looked to be in some pain but continued training several minutes later.

Uruguay open their World Cup campaign against France in Cape Town on Friday, with former France captain Marcel Desailly telling the same newspaper website he was backing his former Inter Milan boss Oscar Tabarez to steer the South Americans into the knockout phase of the tournament alongside hosts South Africa in Group A at the expense of his own country.

"While I hope for SA and France to get into the second round, I think South Africa and Uruguay will make it," Desailly said.

"Uruguay are like most South American sides - difficult to play against. Their coach, Oscar Tabarez, coached me at Milan in 1996/97.

"He's a very clever coach, capable of finding tactical solutions. He believes in his team and he has a team with lots of experienced players who play in good teams such as Juventus, Ajax, Porto and Atletico.

"Captain Diego Lugano and Diego Forlan are important to the team, and Forlan is crucial because if you make a defensive mistake against him you will be playing catch-up."