El Niño began as a goalkeeper and learned to strike from a cartoon
Fernando Torres first played in goal. At seven he switched to attack for a neighbourhood indoor team, taking inspiration from the anime Captain Tsubasa, and at ten he scored 55 goals in a single season. He went on to score in two European Championship finals and cost Chelsea a British record £50 million.
Born in Fuenlabrada near Madrid in 1984, Torres joined his first youth team, Parque 84, at five, and entered Atlético Madrid's academy at eleven, to the delight of a grandfather who supported the club. His under-15 side won the Nike Cup in 1998, and he was voted the best player in Europe for his age group. He signed professionally at 15, debuted for the first team in 2001, and his steady scoring as a teenager earned the nickname El Niño, the Kid, which never left him.
His rise was quick. After a modest six goals in 36 second-division games, he netted 13 in 29 matches in his first La Liga season and 19 in the next. In July 2003 Atlético rejected a £28 million offer from Chelsea's new owner Roman Abramovich. Torres left the club in 2007 with 75 goals in 174 league appearances.
Liverpool came next, and he thrived. He scored on his Anfield league debut against Chelsea in August 2007, hit hat-tricks in consecutive home games, something no Liverpool player had managed since Jack Balmer in 1946, and finished the season with 24 league goals, a record for a foreign player's debut season in England, beating Ruud van Nistelrooy's 23. He became the fastest player in club history to 50 league goals and in 2008 placed third in voting for the Ballon d'Or, a finish he matched in FIFA's own world player award. Chasing trophies, he moved to Chelsea in January 2011, where he won the FA Cup, the Champions League and the Europa League.
International football brought his greatest moments. From his debut against Portugal in 2003 he earned 110 caps and 38 goals, third best in Spain's history, across six major tournaments. Spain won Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, and Torres scored in both European finals, taking the Golden Boot in 2012. He now manages Atlético's reserve side.
Source: Fernando Torres
