Fernando Torres
Personal information
Full name	Fernando José Torres Sanz
Date of birth	March 20, 1984 (1984-03-20) (age 23)
Place of birth	Madrid, Spain
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Liverpool
Number	TBA
Youth clubs
1995–2001	Atlético Madrid
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2001–2007 2007–present	Atlético Madrid Liverpool	214 (82) 0 (0)
National team2
2003–present	Spain	040 (14)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 30, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of June 3, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Fernando José Torres Sanz (born March 20, 1984) is a Spanish football player, whom after signing a new contract, will play for Liverpool.^[1]

He was born in the Fuenlabrada neighbourhood. He is the youngest player to play for Atlético Madrid and the youngest to become captain (at age 19). Nicknamed El Niño (The Kid) for his youthful face, Torres is a striker for the Spanish National Team and Atlético Madrid.

To date, Torres has scored 75 goals over 5 seasons in the Spanish top flight. He played two seasons in the second division where he scored 7 goals in 40 games.

Biography

In 1994, at the age of ten, Torres scored 55 goals in his first season with an eleven-a-side team, Rayo 13, and won himself a trial with Atlético Madrid. He impressed and joined the club in 1995. After progressing through the ranks for a few seasons Torres won his first important youth title in 1998. Atlético sent an under-14 team to compete in Nike Cup Europe against youth teams from such teams as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Manchester United and Juventus. Atlético won the tournament with Torres their leading player. He was later voted as the best player in Europe for that age-group.

In 1999, Torres signed his first contract with the club. In 2000 he broke his leg and didn't return to action until December. Then in February 2001 Torres won the Algarve Tournament with the Spain under-16 team. In May the under-16s took part in the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship, which they also won, with Torres scoring the only goal in the final. He finished as the tournament's leading goalscorer (7 goals in 6 games) and was also voted the best player. Toward the end of the 2000–01 season Torres made his first team debut for Atlético. The date was May 27, 2001, the venue El Calderón and the opponent Leganés. He scored his first goal for the club the following week, in a game against Albacete.

2001–02 saw Atlético win promotion back to La Liga. The then 17-year-old Torres didn't have the best of seasons in front of goal though, netting only 6 times in 36 appearances in the Segunda División. In November Torres represented Spain at the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship. He scored one goal in three games, but the team didn't progess past the group stage. Later that season in July, Torres won the 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Again he scored the only goal in the final and ended as the tournament's leading goalscorer (4 goals in 4 games) and best player.

2002 saw Atlético Madrid returning to the first division of Spanish football. In his first season playing in the top division, Torres did not find the transition from second tier football too much of a hindrance as he scored 13 goals as Atlético finished 12th. He also made his debut for the Spanish U21 team.

In 2003–04 Torres made further strides as he scored 19 league goals in just 35 appearances. He was also named as Atlético'a club captain aged just 19. Atlético also improved, but were pipped for a UEFA Cup place on the final day of the season as they finished 7th behind Sevilla due to goal difference in the two team's head-to-head record (2-1, 0-2). In this season Torres made his debut for the full Spanish national team on September 6, 2003 in a friendly against Portugal. His first goal for Spain came against Italy on April 28, 2004. At the end of the season Torres was chosen as part of the Spanish squad for Euro 2004. He only appeared as a late substitute in Spain's first two group games, but made the first eleven for the deciding game against Portugal. Torres hit the post in the 62 minute after Nuno Gomes put Portgual ahead on 57 minutes. Spain lost 1-0 and were eliminated.

Atlético's 7th place finish in 2004 did qualify them for the Intertoto Cup, giving Torres his first taste of European club competition. They made the final, but agonisingly lost on penalties, this time to Villarreal.

At his first ever appearance in a 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, in the 76th minute for Spain to take the lead 2-1 and then again from a penalty kick in the 90t Torres was dropped from the team for a friendly versus Romania in November 2006, but returned to the national side for the friendly against England in February 2007, a 1-0 win for Spain. After the World Cup Torres admitted that he turned down the chance to join Chelsea after the end of the 2005-06 season.^[2]

Move to Liverpool

Fernando Torres in Spanish paper Marca

Again in 2007, Torres's future at Madrid has been the subject of much speculation after Atlético's inability to secure a UEFA Cup spot. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have been linked with a £20m move for the player.^[3] Following the end of the 2006-07 season, reports in the English media have stated that Torres was the main transfer target of Liverpool.^[4] Reports in Spain have claimed that Liverpool officials are in Madrid and have opened talks with Atlético Madrid.^[5] These claims were later refuted by Atlético president Enrique Cerezo.^[6] Reports on Friday 29 June suggested that Atletico had agreed a deal with Liverpool for Torres, the fee rumoured was £20million plus Luis Garcia.^[7]

Reports on 30 June suggest that the two clubs have agreed a fee for Torres to move to Anfield for a fee around £26.5 million, while Atlético announced agreeing a deal with Villareal to sign Diego Forlan (seen as a potential replacement for Torres).^[8]

On July 2 it was reported that Torres had cut short his holiday to fly back to Madrid to finalize the move. The next day it was reported that Torres had passed his medical for Liverpool and he will hold a farewell press conference on Wednesday 4 July to bid farewell to the Atlético Madrid fans. Later in the day, Atlético officially confirmed his transfer on their website.^[1]

Career statistics

Career honours

Atlético Madrid

• Winner
  • Segunda División: 2001-02
  • 1998 Nike Cup Europe (an under-14 youth cup)

Spain

• Winner
  • 2001 Under-16 Algarve Tournament
  • 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship
  • 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship

Personal Awards

• Winner
  • 1998 Top under-14 European player
  • 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship: Top goalscorer (7 goals in 6 games), Best player
  • 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship: Top goalscorer (4 goals in 4 games), Best player

Labels: Fernando Torres, Profile