Fernando Torres

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Fernando Torres
Personal information
Full name Fernando José Torres Sanz
Date of birth March 20, 1984 (age 23)
Place of birth    Madrid, Spain
Height 1.86 m (6'2")
Nickname El Niño (The Kid), Nando
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Atlético Madrid
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2000 - Atlético Madrid 159 (68)   
National team
2003 - Spain 40 (14) [1]

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Fernando José Torres Sanz (20 March 1984) is a Spanish football player and captain of Atlético Madrid.

He was born in the Fuenlabrada neighbourhood, traditionally Real Madrid territory, but he grew up to wear the red and white stripes of Atlético Madrid. Nicknamed El Niño (The Kid) for his youthful face, Torres is a striker for the Spanish National Team and Atlético Madrid, where he is considered to be one of their best homegrown players.

Contents

[edit] Career at Atlético Madrid

In 1999, Torres signed his first contract with the club and at the end of the 1999–2000 season he was part of the first team. His next success was at the European Under-16 Championship in England in 2001, where he finished as the Player of the Tournament en route to Spain's victory. At the time, Newcastle United manager Bobby Robson was apparently informed of Torres' talent by a Newcastle scout. Robson, however, decided against a move for the Spaniard.

Torres made his debut for Atlético Madrid in the Vicente Calderón Stadium against Leganes and he scored his first goal for the club the following week, in a game against Albacete. 2002 saw Atlético Madrid returning to the first division of Spanish football. In his first season playing in the top division, Torres did not find the transition from second tier football too much of a hindrance as he scored 13 goals. Torres has been the top scorer for Atlético in La Liga for the past four seasons.

He is the youngest player to play for Atlético Madrid and the youngest to become captain (at age 19). He recently scored his first goal against Real Madrid during a La Liga derby.

[edit] International career

In November of 2001 Torres played in the Under-17 World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. In July of 2002, he played in the Under-19 European Championships in Norway, a tournament Spain won. Torres was both top scorer and Player of the Tournament. He made his debut for the Under-21 national team in 2003. On September 6, later that year, Torres made his debut for the senior national team against Portugal. His first goal for Spain came against Italy on April 28, 2004.

It was widely expected that a good performance for Spain at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany would boost Torres' already significant demand among major European clubs. At his first ever appearance in a World Cup finals match, Torres scored with a spectacular volley the last goal of the match over Ukraine to win 4-1. In the second group match Spain rallied from a 0-1 deficit against Tunisia to win 3-1. Torres scored in the 76th minute for Spain to take the lead 2-1 and then again from a penalty kick in the 90th minute. He was subsequently given a much-needed rest in Spain's third group match against Saudi Arabia, entering the game only to substitute José Antonio Reyes in the 70th minute. Having managed to score three goals in the tournament, Torres was one of the leading goal scorers in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was also the first player to score three goals in the tournament. Torres started the round of 16 matches against France, but after initially taking the lead, Spain went on to lose 1-3 and were knocked out of the tournament.

The Spanish national team coach, Luis Aragonés, commented that Torres "never scores two goals the same", referring to his versatility and remarkable keenness on the pitch. He also showed greatness up front with David Villa. Arguably, he was Spain's best player at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

However, Torres was dropped from the team for a friendly versus Romania in November 2006.

He returned to the national side for the friendly against England in February 2007, in which Spain won 1-0, thanks to a spectacular goal from Andrés Iniesta.

At this moment, he isn't a regular player in favour of Fernando Morientes.

[edit] Transfer speculation

The amount of speculation in the media for a Torres transfer is overwhelming. Some of latest transfer speculations are below.

On January 27th 2006, the Spanish striker said it was confirmed to him by Atlético chiefs that Manchester United had made a bid which was subsequently rejected.[1] Other sources have instead estimated €36.6m ($46.6m or £25m) to Atlético, who have been facing financial difficulties. [2] Torres has also received offers from clubs such as Tottenham, Newcastle, Inter etc.

Rafa Benitez of Liverpool sent his head scout to watch Torres in the Madrid derby, February. This was followed by Atlético Madrid president Enrique Cerezo admitting that he is powerless in stopping Torres leave in the summer. Manchester United are still hopeful but rumours state he will not join [3]

[edit] Trivia

  • He has three tattoos: one is on the inside of his left arm that says "Fernando" in Tengwar; the number 9, his number for Atlético Madrid and the Spanish national team, is tattooed on the inside of his right wrist; and the Roman numerals VII VII MMI are tattooed on the inside of his right shin.
  • He has said that signing autographs after training sessions are "almost a duty, than a moral obligation". [4]
  • He is a friend of lead singer Dani Martin of the Spanish band El Canto del Loco.
  • He dedicates his goals to the victims of the Madrid train incident.
  • His idol is Kiko, ex-player of Atlético Madrid. He has always dreamed of playing at his side.
  • He is good friends with co-teammate for Spain, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas.
  • Torres has been quoted as one of the best forwards in europe by David Beckham also said to be an extraordinary forward quoted by Thierry Henry, despite his rather poor record (14 goals in 40 matches) for the Spanish side.
  • He appears to be in several Pepsi commercials, including the 2004 footbattle, and both of the 2006 pepsi commercials for the world cup (also featuring David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Raúl González, Roberto Carlos etc)
  • He is also best mates with arsenals Cesc Fabregas

[edit] Honours

  • 1998/1999: Top Scorer of Nike Cup Europe and Best Young European Player Award[5]
  • 2000/2001: Top Scorer and Player of Tournament Algarve, Top Scorer and Player of the Under-16s European Championship, Under-16 European Championship winners[6]
  • 2001/2002: Top Scorer of the Under 19s European Championship and Under 19s European Championship winners[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ FIFA World Cup official site

[edit] External links



Flag of Spain Spain squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Flag of Spain

1 Casillas | 2 Salgado | 3 Pernía | 4 Marchena | 5 Puyol | 6 Albelda | 7 Raúl | 8 Xavi | 9 Torres | 10 Reyes | 11 García | 12 López | 13 Iniesta | 14 Alonso | 15 Ramos | 16 Senna | 17 Joaquín | 18 Fàbregas | 19 Cañizares | 20 Juanito | 21 Villa | 22 Pablo | 23 Reina | Coach: Aragonés
Atlético Madrid - Current Squad

1 Cuéllar | 2 Seitaridis | 3 Antonio López | 4 Pernía | 5 Luccin | 6 Costinha | 7 Galletti | 8 Gabi | 9 Torres | 10 Agüero | 11 Maxi | 12 Fabiano Eller | 13 Falcón | 14 Zé Castro | 15 Jurado | 17 Petrov | 18 Valera | 19 Miguel | 20 Maniche | 21 Perea | 22 Pablo | 23 Mista | 25 Franco | 28 Marqués | 29 Azcárate | 45 Víctor Bravo | 46 Pollo | Coach Aguirre
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