Fernando José Torres Sanz, born 20 March
1984), nicknamed El Niño (The Kid in Spanish). is a Spanish footballer
who plays as a striker for Chelsea and the Spain national team. Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid,
progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his
first team debut in 2001 and finished his time at the club having scored 75
goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Prior to his La Liga debut, Torres played two
seasons in the Segunda División for Atlético Madrid, making 40 appearances and
scoring seven goals.
He joined Premier League club Liverpool in 2007,
after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield
by being Liverpool's first player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–1996 season
to score more than 20 league goals in a season. Torres became the fastest
player in Liverpool history to score 50 league goals. He left the club in
January 2011 to join Chelsea for a record British transfer fee of
£50 million, which made him the most expensive Spanish player in history.
In his first full season at Chelsea, Torres was integral in the club winning
the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, despite receiving criticism for a
comparatively low goal-scoring record. The following season he scored in the
final of the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League, helping Chelsea to win the competition
for the first time. On 15th May 2013, Torres won the UEFA Europa League with Chelsea,
joining team-mate Juan Mata to become the first players to have held all 4 of
the Champions League, Europa League, World Cup and the European Championships
simultaneously.
Those counting on Spain
to take the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup lightly
just because it is less prestigious than the international trophies the world's
top-ranked team has already won in the recent past may want to rethink things. Chelsea
striker Fernando Torres says Spain is putting
plenty of emphasis on emerging from this month's tournament in Brazil with a trophy, adding that this generation of La
Furia Roja players is still hungry for more success.
"For this
generation of players, it would be massive to win the European Cup, World Cup and Confederations Cup all in a row. The
approach of this competition has to be like a World Cup or a European Cup. This generation we still want to win trophies."
In 2009, Spain bowed
out of the Confederations Cup in the semifinals, when the United States upset the heavy favorite with a 2-0
result in South Africa.
"2009 was a big,
big disappointment for us to lose in the semifinal against the USA," Torres said. "Because of that we know how
important this competition is. It's the only competition we didnt win in the
past.
"We don't want to
have the same feelings from 2009 and going back home and losing in the
semifinals. Especially because we play in Brazil and we know how important it
is for Brazil as well to win the Confederatrions Cup and show the supporters
that they can beat Spain. We are the team to
beat, and we can handle the pressure and we're ready for the chance."
Torres recalled the
loss to the Americans, one that snapped Spain's 35-match unbeaten streak and
sent shockwaves around the world but also showed the likes of Torres that U.S.
players were on the rise.
"We played against
a great team," Torres said. "I think we had over 40 shots that game
and we could not score. It was not the best memory, but I remember players like
[Clint] Dempsey, [Landon] Donovan, [Jozy] Altidore, who scored the first goal,
[Tim] Howard in the goal, [Oguchi] Onyewu as a center back, he had a great
game. Many players played in Europe and for America, that day they had a great
game.
"It's not a
surprise for everyone that the USA is winning games against the best teams in
the world," Torres said. "There are players that can play in the best
teams in the world, and in a few years we will see many American players playing
in Europe in the top teams.
"I think they
showed to everyone in 2009 what they can do in the future. We're ready for the
next time we're going to play against them." Torres said that even though
Spain lost in 2009, the experience of being able to play in South Africa and
get acclimated to the surroundings was a major factor in the team's 2010 World Cup success.
"The Confederations Cup, it's a great opportunity to know
the country for the World Cup, the kind of grass it has in the stadiums,
everything it looks like it's not important, but I think for us to play in South Africa, it helps a lot for the World Cup the year
after," Torres said. "You know more or less what are you going to
find in the country. We hope the Confederations Cup in Brazil
is going to give us a good contact for the country, the stadiums, everything in
Brazil to be ready for the World Cup."
Prior to departing for
Brazil, Spain will play two friendlies in the United States starting with
Saturday's clash with Haiti at Miami's Sun Life Stadium. La Roja will then take
on Ireland at New York's Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. For Torres, it marks the
second of his three slated summer trips to the United States. Chelsea already
played against Manchester City in St. Louis and New York and will be returning
later this summer for the International Champions Cup, a tournament featuring
eight teams.
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