Football Features - Part 7: Top 12 Strikers at the moment
6. Fernando Torres
The English Premier League sensation, Fernando Torres is simply a versatile striker. His ability to score goals is sensational. However, his form has always been inconsistent because of his injuries.
The Spaniard started his career at the Spanish club Atletico Madrid and his parents told the press that he actually started off as a goalkeeper. Later, his coach decided to play him as a full back, but his sensational heading and dribbling abilities meant he was destined for a greater attacking role.
He later became one of the players who outshined the other little starlets in the youth team. When his youth team coaches started to play him as a wing forward, Torres’ stock started to rise even higher. Eventually, he became the sole striker of the youth team.
He then joined the Atletico Madrid first team squad as a young player and featured in most of their games. Later on he earned himself a starting spot after showing his extraordinary goal scoring talent. He managed to play 214 games for the Spanish team and scored 82 goals.
In 2007, the English club Liverpool sought to purchase Torres from Atletico Madrid. Eventually after a protracted period of time the move was signed off on by all involved parties and Torres became a Liverpool player. Soon, chants of ‘El Nino’ filled Anfield.
Even though he didn’t really manage to win a trophy for Liverpool, he still managed to help the team finish high up in the league. Fernando Torres showed the world what he was made of during his run in 2007-2008 season. He managed to bag himself 33 goals in only 46 games.
However, the English league proved to be physically challenging for the Spaniard as he started getting injured right after the first season. Despite his injury plagued second season, he scored 17 goals in only 38 games that he played during the next season. He carried his form for Liverpool into his national team appearances as well, which culminated in his winning goal for Spain in the 2008 European Championships.
However, his run in 2009-2010 was simply full of injuries. His left knee wasn’t working too well for him and the Spaniard was seen limping out of the ground on several occasions. Even though he scored so many goals for the club, he couldn’t help them win a Champions League spot and Liverpool finished 7th in the Premier League.
During the FIFA World Cup 2010 Fernando Torres was on the bench after the first match he played for the Spanish side. With so many Barcelona players playing in Spain, it was very easy for the Spaniards to find a substitution for the Liverpool player and it was Pedro Rodriguez who made the first team squad while the injured Torres was out to sit on the bench.
He then featured in the late minutes of the final match during the tournament. It was his cross that reached Fabregas, who sent the ball in Iniesta’s way for the extra time winner.
In spite of his trysts with his injuries, Fernando Torres is one of the best strikers in the world due to his sensational pace, clinical finishing and phenomenal all around play.
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