Fernando Torres Spanish Footballer From Fuenlabrada

Early life

Fernando José Torres Sanz was born on 20 March 1984 in Fuenlabrada, in the Community of Madrid. He joined his first youth team, Parque 84, at the age of five, and he started out as a goalkeeper before moving up front. Later he played for a neighbourhood indoor football club and then for Rayo 13, where he scored 55 goals in his first season. In 1995 he entered the youth system of Atlético Madrid, the club his grandfather supported. He is 186 centimetres tall and is nicknamed El Niño, "The Kid", a name he picked up because of his steady goalscoring as a young player.

Career

Torres signed his first professional contract with Atlético in 1999 and made his first-team debut on 27 May 2001 against Leganés. He scored his first goal for the club a week later, against Albacete. Atlético won promotion to La Liga after the 2001–02 season, and in 2002–03 he scored 13 goals in 29 league appearances. He was named club captain when he was 19. By the time he left he had scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga matches.

In July 2007 he moved to Liverpool on a six-year contract. He made his debut on 11 August 2007 and scored his first Premier League goal on his Anfield debut against Chelsea. In 2007–08 he scored 24 league goals, a record for a foreign player in his first English season at the time, and 29 in all competitions. He finished third in the voting for both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2008, and he was named in the FIFPro World XI in 2008 and 2009. In December 2009 he became the fastest Liverpool player to reach 50 league goals.

Torres joined Chelsea in January 2011 for a reported fee of £50 million, a British transfer record. With Chelsea he won the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League in 2011–12, coming on as a substitute in the final against Bayern Munich, and the UEFA Europa League in 2012–13, when he scored the opening goal of the final against Benfica. In August 2014 he went on loan to AC Milan, and in January 2015 he returned on loan to Atlético Madrid. He signed for Atlético permanently on 5 July 2016. On 6 February 2016 he scored his 100th goal for the club, and he later helped them win the 2017–18 Europa League. In July 2018 he signed for the Japanese club Sagan Tosu, and he retired after the 2019 season, playing his farewell match on 23 August 2019.

With the Spain national team, Torres won the 2001 European Under-16 Championship, in which he scored the only goal of the final and was named player of the tournament, and the 2002 European Under-19 Championship. He made his senior debut on 6 September 2003 in a friendly against Portugal and went on to win 110 caps and score 38 goals, which makes him Spain's third-highest scorer. He took part in six major tournaments between Euro 2004 and the 2014 World Cup. Spain won Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. Torres scored the winning goal in the Euro 2008 final against Germany, came on as a substitute in the 2010 World Cup final against the Netherlands, and scored in the Euro 2012 final, where he also won the Golden Boot. At the 2013 Confederations Cup he scored four goals in one match against Tahiti and won the Golden Shoe.

Outside football, Torres appeared in the film "Goal III: Taking on the World" in 2009, and the same year he published an autobiography, "Torres: El Niño: My Story". After retiring as a player he moved into coaching. On 25 July 2021 he became head coach of Atlético Madrid's under-19 side, and on 11 June 2024 he took charge of Atlético Madrid B.

Recognition

Torres received the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2010 and the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit in 2011. The Marca Leyenda award followed in 2012. At Euro 2008 he was chosen for the team of the tournament, and the Euro 2012 Golden Boot was his. In 2011 a stadium in Fuenlabrada was built in his honour.