Fernando José Torres Sanz born 20 March 1984 , nicknamed El Niño (The Kid in Spanish) is aSpanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker.
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 1995–96season to score more than 20 league goals in a season. Torres became the fastest player in Liverpool history to score 50 league goals after scoring against Aston Villa in December 2009. He left the club in January 2011 to join Chelsea for a record British transfer fee of £50 million, which also made him the most expensive Spanish player in history. In his first full season at Chelsea, he helped the Blues win the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, the first major trophies of his club career.
Torres is a Spanish international and made his debut for the country against Portugal in 2003. He has since participated in five major tournaments,UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012. Torres did not score at Euro 2004, but netted three at the 2006 World Cup. He scored twice at UEFA Euro 2008, including the winning goal for Spain in their 1–0 win over Germany in the Final. He went on to win the 2010 World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012 with Spain, scoring no goals in the former, and scoring three goals in the latter to win the Golden Boot, as part of the historic Spain side which won 3 consecutive major tournaments.
Early career
Born in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Torres became interested in football as a child and joined his first team, Parque 84, at the age of five. His father José Torres worked during Torres' childhood, and his mother Flori Sanz traveled daily with him to training sessions. His grandfather was not a passionate football fan, but took pride in being an Atlético Madrid supporter, and Torres inherited his love for the club.
Torres started playing football as a goalkeeper, the position his brother played in. When he was seven years old, however, he started playing regularly as a striker in an indoor league for the neighborhood club, Mario's Holland, using the characters from the anime Captain Tsubasa as inspiration. Three years later, aged 10, he progressed to an 11-side team, Rayo 13. He scored 55 goals in a season and was one of three Rayo 13 players to earn a trial with Atlético. He impressed the scouts and joined the club's youth system at the age of 11 in 1995.
Club career
Chelsea
On 27 January, Torres was the subject of a £40 million bid from Chelsea, which was rejected by Liverpool. He subsequently handed in an official transfer request to Liverpool the next day, which was rejected. Torres completed his move to Chelsea on a five-and-a-half year contract on 31 January for an undisclosed fee reported to be £50 million, which set a new record for a British transfer and made him the sixth most expensive footballer in history. He made his Chelsea debut on 6 February in a 1–0 home defeat to former club Liverpool. On 23 April, Torres scored his first goal for Chelsea against West Ham United in a 3–0 victory, which ended a run of 903 minutes of football without a goal.
Torres got the 2011–12 season underway in Chelsea's 0–0 draw away against Stoke City, in which his "link-up play was sharp, plus he was willing to make intelligent runs into space to receive the ball". He scored his second goal at Chelsea, and his first of the season, on 18 September, during an away game against Manchester United, which was the side's only goal in a 3–1 defeat. He scored his second goal of the season against Swansea City in a 4–1 victory. However, 10 minutes after his goal, a two-footed challenge on Mark Gower resulted in his first red card in English football and a three-match domestic suspension. On 19 October, Torres scored two goals in a 5–0 victory against Genk in the Champions League, his first in Europe since the quarter-final of the 2008–09 Champions League with his old club Liverpool, against Chelsea. His next Chelsea goals came after scoring twice and also assisting two others against Championship side Leicester City in an FA Cup quarter-final on 18 March 2012, ending a goal drought that stretched 24 games. On 31 March 2012, Torres scored his first Premier League goal since 24 September 2011 against Aston Villa in a 4–2 away win.2011–12 season
Torres came on as a substitute for Didier Drogba on 24 April 2012 to score a last-minute goal against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final, which gave Chelsea a 2–2 draw, and also eliminated Barcelona from the tournament, as Chelsea won 3–2 on aggregate. He scored the first hat-trick of his Chelsea career in a 6–1 win against Queens Park Rangers at Stamford Bridge on 29 April. Torres came on in the second half of the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, directly after Bayern Munich's opening goal, and was heavily involved with Drogba's equaliser, earning the corner kick from which the Ivorian scored to bring the game into extra time.
International career
In February 2001, Torres won the Algarve Tournament with the Spain national under-16 team. The under-16s took part in the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship in May, which they also won, with Torres scoring the only goal in the Final, as well as finishing as the tournament's leading scorer, and was also named the player of the tournament. In September 2001, Torres represented the under-17 team at the 2001 FIFA Under-17 World Championship, but the team failed to progress through the group stage. In July 2002, he won the 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship with the under-19 team and was again the only goalscorer in the Final. Also, he finished as top scorer and was named player of the tournament.
He scored seven goals in 11 appearances in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup,making him Spain's top scorer for qualification, including a vital two goals against Belgium and his first international hat-trick against San Marino. At his first ever appearance in a FIFA World Cup finals at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Torres scored the final goal in a 4–0 victory over Ukraine with a volley. In the second group match, Torres scored twice against Tunisia, first in the 76th minute to take Spain 2–1 into the lead, and then again from a penalty kick in the 90th. With three goals, he finished the tournament as Spain's top scorer along with fellow striker David Villa.
He was called up for Spain's UEFA Euro 2008 squad, where he set up Villa to score Spain's first goal of the tournament in the first game in the group stage against Russia. Torres came under criticism for apparently refusing to shake the hand of Spanish manager, Luis Aragonés, after being substituted. He subsequently denied being angry with the coaching, saying that he was actually "irritated with himself".He scored his first goal of the tournament in Spain's next game, a 2–1 win over Sweden. Torres scored the winner and was named the man of the match in the Final against Germany in a 1–0 victory. He said "It's just a dream come true. This is my first title and I hope it's the first of many. Victory in a Euro, it is almost as big as a World Cup. We are used to watching finals on television, but today we were here and we won. My job is to score goals. I want to win more titles and be the most important player in Europe and the world." He was later named as a striker along with his striking partner Villa in the Team of the Tournament.
Torres made his 60th appearance for Spain in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification victory over Turkey on 28 March 2009, becoming the youngest player to reach this milestone. He was named in Spain's team for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in June. He scored his second hat-trick for Spain after 17 minutes into a Confederations Cup game against New Zealand on 14 June, thus recording the fastest hat-trick by a player for Spain. He played for Spain as they were defeated 2–0 by the United States in the semi-final, as well as the third-place play-off, which Spain won 3–2 against South Africa after extra time.
Having undergone knee surgery on 18 April 2010, and missed the end of the Premier League season, Torres' rehabilitation and fitness was closely monitored by Spain manager Vicente del Bosque. Although still out injured, Torres was selected for Spain's 2010 FIFA World Cup squad in May. On 8 June, Torres made his first appearance on the field in exactly two months, coming on as a substitute on 66 minutes against Poland in a pre-World Cup friendly. He came on as a substitute on 61 minutes in Spain's opening World Cup game on 16 June, a 1–0 defeat to Switzerland. He started the next two games against Honduras and Chile and although his performances in the group stage were described as below-par, he received backing from manager Vicente del Bosque. Torres came on as a substitute on 105 minutes in the Final as Spain won the FIFA World Cup for the first time following a 1–0 victory over the Netherlands on 11 July 2010.
Torres was selected in Del Bosque's UEFA Euro 2012 squad. In his first start of the tournament he netted two goals as Spain defeated theRepublic of Ireland 4–0 to knock them out of the tournamet. ‘El Nino’ has now scored 30 goals for his country in 95 appearances, moving to third in Spain’s all time goal-scorers’ list. His first goal was also Spain’s fastest in a Euro tournament, scored at three minutes and 49 seconds, beating Raúl's strike against Slovenia in 2000 by three seconds. But it was Torres’ second fastest goal ever. In the final of Euro 2012, Torres came on as a substitute against Italy, scoring one goal and assisting another. This turned out to be record breaking, as Torres became the first player to score in two European Championship Finals. This also secured him the Golden Boot for the tournament with three goals and one assist, having played fewer minutes than Mario Gomez, who also had three goals and one assist.
Personal life
Torres' parents are José and Flori, and he has two older siblings, Israel (born 1977) and Maria Paz (born 1976). He married Olalla Domínguez Liste, with whom he had been in a relationship since 2001, on 27 May 2009 in a private ceremony with just two guests at the local town hall in El Escorial, Madrid. They had been an item for eight years and are thought to have met in the Galician seaside town of Estorde, where Torres would go on family holidays each year to escape the Spanish capital. The couple have two children, a daughter, Nora, born on 8 July 2009 at the Hospital La Rosaleda, in Santiago de Compostela, and a son, Leo, born on 6 December 2010 at Liverpool Women's Hospital, with Torres missing the fixture against Aston Villa at Anfield. These two children, aged 2 (nearly 3) and 1½, respectively, were seen with Torres on the pitch of the Kyiv Olympic Stadium immediately after the victorious UEFA Euro 2012 Final, in which Spain defeated Italy 4–0, with Torres scoring the third goal.
In 2009, it was reported that Torres has a personal fortune of £14 million. He features in the video for "Ya Nada Volverá A Ser Como Antes" by Spanish pop rock group El Canto del Loco,whose singer, Dani Martín, shares a strong friendship with the footballer. He makes a cameo appearance in the 2005 comedy film Torrente 3: El protector. In 2009, he released an autobiography entitled Torres: El Niño: My Story.
