32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League - Part 12
22. Fernando Torres:
The Newcastle United manager Bobby Robson was informed about Fernando Torres’ talent. However, Bobby Robson did not make a move to snatch the Spaniard and decided to go on without him. On the other hand, Torres made his debut for the Spanish team Atletico
Madrid in the Vicente Calderon Stadium. That night it was the Spanish striker who managed to score his first goal against Albacete.
Soon, in the year 2002 Atletico Madrid made a return to first division Spanish football. While the young talent came to the first tire and shined brightly for the Spanish side and scored 13 goals in the first season that Atletico Madrid played for the first
division Spanish football. For the past four seasons, it was Fernando Torres who was the top goal scorer for Atletico Madrid and he was also the youngest player ever to feature for Atletico Madrid and the youngest player to wear the Captain’s armband. He was
only 19 years old when he was given charge of the Spanish team.
In the 2003-2004 season, Fernando Torres improved even more and managed to score 19 goals in only 22 League Starts as he managed to appear for 35 times in total. He was named as the club’s captain only when he was 19 and then later helped the team win a
UEFA Cup place as Atletico Madrid finished 7th in the league; right behind Sevilla who finished 6th with Atletico Madrid. However, it was the Madrid team that went on to play the UEFA Cup because of the “head-to-head” record between the
two teams. Atletico Madrid won the match 2-1 at home and also won the match 0-2 when they visited Sevilla.
In the same season, Fernando Torres made his debut for the Spanish national team when they faced a “friendly” Portuguese side. However, it was not until April 28th 2004, when Torres finally scored his first goal for the Spanish side when he score
a fabulous right footed shot in the corner of the goal against Italy. He gave such a stunning performance throughout the season that he was called up for the Spanish squad during the Euro 2004.
However, the young Spanish player did not really feature as a first team player throughout the tournament and came on as a late substitute for the national team during the group stages of Euro 2004. Even though he did not appear during the group stages,
he was selected as a first team player for the “deciding” game against Portugal. Even though Spain lost the match 1-0 after Nuno Gomes’ goal, it was Torres who missed the goal after hitting the wood work during the 62nd minute of the game. The Spanish
team were eliminated after that loss but Torres was the one who managed to shine throughout the game as he tried to make many chances and tried to beat the Portuguese defense with this amazing pace.
At club level, Atletico’s 7th place finish during the 2003-2004 season helped them qualify for the Intertoto Cup which gave Torres his first chance to compete in a European Club competition. With the help of the Spaniard, Atletico Madrid managed
to reach the final but it was the strong Villa Real side that emerged victorious after a penalty shootout.
His amazing ability at the striking position was very well recognized by the Spanish side and he was taken in the squad of the FIFA World Cup 2006 squad when the Spaniards travelled to Germany to play for glory. He managed to score his first World Cup goal
against Ukraine where he managed to score the fourth goal of the match when the Spaniards demolished the Ukrainian side after winning 4-0.
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