The rise, fall and rise of Fernando Torres

The Vicente Calderon was bursting; exploding with the beautiful cacophony of the supporters’ voices. ‘El Nino, El Nino!’ they called out to him. He had always dreamed of this moment, but not quite so soon. He closed his eyes and took in the reality of what was happening as images of his loved ones flipped through his head. There he stood, ready to lead his team on to the pitch – all 19 years of him. Just two years ago, he’d made his debut and now he stood on the verge of history and immortality at his club. As he walked on to the pitch, with the armband tied securely around his arm, he knew and the whole of Spain knew – a legend was in the making.

ALBACETE, SPAIN: Atletico Madrid’s Fernando Torres celebrates his goal during a league match.

Fernando Torres. 19 years of age and captain of a top team in Spain. Brought up in the Atletico youth system, Torres had been a stand-out player ever since his youth – winning the best player for his category in Europe when he was 15 and scoring his first goal for the club when he was 17, just a week after making his debut. 2003 was his year and 19 was his lucky number. Not only was it his age, it was also the number of goals he’d scored in La Liga – finishing joint-third in the top scorer’s list and only 5 goals behind the eventual Pichichi winner Ronaldo. He’d also led his team out to the final of the UEFA Intertoto Cup – his first taste of European football.

Then came the 2006 World Cup. One of the youngest in the squad that left for Germany, Torres had the likes of Raul and David Villa to compete with for a starting place and yet, managed to get quite some playing time. And then came the transfer rumours. After announcing himself on the big stage, Torres caught the eye of quite a lot of top European clubs. From Juventus to Manchester United to Barcelona – every club was linked with him at least once. He publicly rejected Chelsea‘s bid to sign him and insisted upon staying at Atleti and he did, scoring 14 goals the next season. And this time, came an offer he couldn’t reject – one from Liverpool.

19 August 2007. The transfer had been completed and his debut was over. Now was the time for the match he’d been waiting for – his Anfield debut. He’d asked around the players to know how it feels when you walk onto the sacred soil and hear the Kop sing your name but he knew that his experience would definitely be different. He rejoiced at scoring on his debut – that too against former champions Chelsea. He knew he’d started off on the right note.

Torres soon became a favourite, not only at Anfield, but with the whole of England. The England cognoscenti considered him the perfect centre forward – tall, lean, strong in the air, lethal finishing and fast with deadly positioning. The Kop could not believe they had bought him for only 25 mn + Luis Garcia! He adapted to the roughness and physical demands of the Premier League like a fish to water. WIth Gerrard providing plenty of balls for him to convert, it seemed like a dream. He scored a whopping 24 goals in the Premier League – eclipsing van Nistelrooy’s record of 24 for a foreign player’s debut season and finished joint second in the race for the Golden Boot. In 2008, Chelsea again tried to buy him – for a whopping 50 million pounds but however he again rejected them, saying it would be many more years before he left Anfield.

As Xavi passed the ball to him, he knew that it was now or never; this was his chance – his country’s chance – and he could not spurn it. He dribbled the ball a few paces, faked a defender and then it was just him and the goalkeeper. He took one look at the incoming figure of Jens Lehmann and shot the ball. His heart was beating uncontrollably fast as he prayed for it to cross the line. And as it did, he wheeled off into a celebration. He had just handed his team their first major trophy in 44 years.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA – JUNE 29: Fernando Torres (R) of Spain celebrates the opening goal with Andres Iniesta of Spain during the UEFA EURO 2008 Final

The Euro 2008 saw the emergence of one of the best striking pairs Spain has seen – David Villa and Fernando Torres. David Villa shone for most of the tournament, ending up the top scorer but had to miss the final through an injury. It was time for Torres to shine. He did so, scoring the only goal of the final and bagging the Man Of The Match Award. He had won his first ever title.

“It’s just a dream come true. This is my first title and I hope it’s the first of many. Victory in a Euro, it is almost as big as a World Cup. We are used to watching finals on television, but today we were here and we won. My job is to score goals. I want to win more titles and be the most important player in Europe and the world.” – Fernando Torres

The next season was business as usual for Torres – just another never-ending flow of goals, just another couple of match-winning performances, just another place in the PFA Team Of The Year and finishing 3rd in the Ballon D’Or. He was one of the fastest ever to reach 50 goals for a club – doing it in just 84 appearances. The 2009-10 season was a great season for him, but not Liverpool. Though he missed half of the season due to knee surgery, he finished with 22 goals from 32 appearances. His name was the most popular one on replica shirts all around the world.

As he strode on to the field, he knew something was missing. It didn’t feel like before. His knee operation had been successful but he was playing way before he could be considered fully fit. His knee was still giving him problems now and then during practice and matches. As he saw his number being put up for substitution, his heart sank and he realised he’d lost his magic touch, he’d lost his form. He couldn’t take it.

After the knee surgery in 2010, he never looked as sharp as he was before. Forcing himself to go on the plane to South Africa, Torres hoped his time in the Rainbow Nation would be as fruitful as his stay in Austria and Switzerland. However, new coach Vicente Del Bosque preferred starting with one striker and the one striker was David Villa. He did get starts against Honduras and Chile but his performances were below-par and was resigned to the bench. He came on as a substitute in the 105th minute in the final to see Andres Iniesta score the goal that mattered and hand Spain their first ever World Cup.

But all was not well for him at Liverpool..

It wan’t working for him. Nor was it for Liverpool. His form had deteriorated and Liverpool were hanging around mid-table, a great way off of Chelsea and Manchester United. He used to think Anfield was the place he’d retire at, but now he wasn’t sure. Rafa Benitez, who’d been a father-figure to him had left, and the new manager Roy Hodgson was on the brink of getting sacked. His life got stagnated and he began to look for alternatives..

The 2010 season had not gone the way Torres wanted it to. Liverpool were falling further down the table and his form wasn’t looking the best. He decided it was time for a change. Fortunately for him, in January, Chelsea came at the right time with a bid of 40 mn. Rejected by Liverpool, he handed in an official transfer request the next day and Liverpool had to let him depart for West London for 50 million pounds – the highest transfer fee in English football. The day he landed in London, there was a massive outburst by the fans in Liverpool where shirts carrying his name were burnt and he was labelled ‘Judas’. His tryst with destiny – his first match for Chelsea was against Liverpool and he went on to lose. He went for one, two, three, four, so many games without scoring he could’ve lost count. But his haters didn’t. He went 903 minutes without a goal until he finally broke his drought by scoring against West Ham on Easter Day. Many still mocked him, quipping that Easter truly was a day of miracles as Torres had scored. As he finished the season in 2nd place with Chelsea, he was still the subject of endless jokes.

‘He’s now a blue, he was a red, Torres! Torres!He left the Kop to join the shed Torres! Torres!He used to go out on the rob, but now he’s got a proper jobFernando Torres, Chelsea’s no.9!’, sang the fans, pushing him on.

But he’d begun to think his time at the top was over – that he was, as the papers were saying, a ‘waste of money’ and ‘the worst striker in the Premier League’. He found sanctuary in his family but was insecure, threatened. He was afraid to go outside for a walk, to shop for groceries, to take his children to school. He didn’t know when and where he’d be mocked or worse, pitied upon next. The newspapers blamed him for the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti. They mocked him saying a defender bought in the same January window had more goals than him. They said he was finished. Whatever he said was exaggerated and proliferated by the media to portray him as a villain and a Judas to the world. The summer of 2011 was indeed a very long one for him.

THAT miss..

Torres did not know what to expect from the 2011-12 season. A new manager in Andre Villas Boas and his Spanish teammate Juan Mata arrived in London. Pre-season was a good one for Torres, he scored a few, assisted a few and things were looking bright. The season started and he was turning in good performances that lacked only the goals and finishing. He scored his first goal of the season against Manchester United right after halftime to bring Chelsea back in the game. However, he is more remembered for his infamous miss, after he had wrong-footed David De Gea but missed a wide open goal. However, Chelsea fans believed he had got his form back and he scored against Swansea in the following match too. However, things went dark later in the game, as he received a red card – the first of his career – and the momentum was gone. He scored his first Champions League goals for Chelsea in a 5-0 thrashing of Genk in October, but the momentum had not returned yet as he was just showing glimpses of his form. Drogba was more preferred and Torres found it increasingly frustrated again. His confidence drained, his form deteriorated, he was bearing the brunt of many trolls and jokes and his club was in a very bad position in the Premier League. The whole team had lost confidence and their faith was shaken. Andre Villas Boas was sacked and Roberto di Matteo was made interim manager. And the effect he had on Torres and the rest, is history.

It Was Written In The Stars…

He knew that Robbie trusted him. That the fans trusted him. He knew that he must put them in front of his own interests and give his best every game, regardless of the mocking by the rival fans, regardless of whether he scored or not. He knew that he was entitled to repay the faith the club had shown in him. He started staying back after practice, he worked out more to build his strength to suit Chelsea’s style of play. He was not the tall lean boy who’d arrived from Spain; he’d become a strong, well-built man. Every time he walked onto pitch, he’d look over to the Shed End, where a banner holding his name – Torres – was hung. And then he felt the fire – the blue fire – raging in his belly.

Di Matteo showed his confidence in both Drogba and Torres by starting them alternatively. Torres scored twice and assisted twice in the FA Cup Quarterfinal against Leicester before scoring a goal against Aston Villa in a 4-2 win. Torres had his swagger back and was back to his job of terrorising defences again. In the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final, Torres came on as a substitute to go on a scintillating run all the way from the halfway line to score past a helpless Victor Valdes and take his team through to the finals. He also scored his first ever Chelsea hattick in a 6-1 demolition of QPR.

Though he didn’t play a big part in the semifinals or the finals of the FA Cup, his contribution by means of assists and goals was well observed by the Chelsea loyal and this win was especially sweet for him, since it was against his old club, Liverpool and gave him a chance at proving his critics wrong. He even had the courtesy of going over and consoling his old teammates, Steven Gerrard and Pepe Reina.

In the finals, he was brought on right after the Bayern Munich goal and played a huge role in the equaliser, winning the corner from which Drogba eventually scored. Though he was not one of the 5 penalty takers, he made no effort in hiding his jubilance at winning the trophy he’d always dreamed of as a small boy.

His dream was fulfilled..

Holding the big trophy with the big ears, sitting on the crossbar with the Spain flag draped around his shoulders and punching his fist in the air, he knew then that he had made the right decision. Liverpool had offered him more individual honours but Chelsea had given him his coveted major club titles. He heard the fans go ‘He scores when he wants, he scores when he wants, Fernando Torres scores when he wants!’ and a warm feeling overcame him. He knew he had repayed their faith in him as much as he could. They were happy and he was too.

Then came the Euros. The emergence of Alvaro Negredo and Fernando Llorente as well as Santi Cazorla meant that Fernando Torres was fighting for a place in the squad going to Poland and Ukraine. However, the exclusion of David Villa owing to the injury meant that the only real experienced striker Spain had were Torres and there he was on the plane, with his #9 jersey.

However, being in the squad did not mean he would start and he felt quite naturally upset after del Bosque went for a midfielder to start upfront instead of him. He did come on and he was wasteful in chances that could’ve won his team the game. The insecurity seemed to be back and critics consigned him to being ‘over’. However, he slapped them on their mouths with a scintillating brace against the Republic of Ireland. Cesc Fabregas was still preferred over him, though he and the whole world knew that, with a real #9 striker, Spain could do wonders again. But he believed, and humbly said that if his country requires him to be on the bench in order for it to win, he would gladly do so. The finals came and Fabregas was made to start.

With Spain 2-0 up, enter Torres. After being put through on a defence-splitting pass, Torres coolly slotted past Gigi Buffon to make it 3. And then, just a minute after Chelsea teammate Juan Mata came on, Torres unselfishly passed Mata the ball when he himself was in a goalscoring position and Mata converted to make it 4-0. Torres had just won the Golden Boot, scoring 3 and assisting 1 in just189 minutes on the pitch, meaning he was involved in a goal every 47 minutes he played. He also became the first player ever to score in two different European Championship finals and etched his name firmly into the history books.

‘There was something in the air that night

The stars were bright, Fernando

They were shining there for you and me

For liberty, Fernando’

Torres with everything he values most!

As he held his Golden Boot award and the Euro 2012 trophy, he closed his eyes as images of the past year scanned through his head: his hardships at Chelsea, the glaring miss vs Man United, his first red card, the boos and taunts from fans, the manager getting sacked, scoring against Barcelona, scoring his first Chelsea hattrick and holding aloft the Champions League trophy – and this. He knew the year had been tough and he had a lot of things going against him. But he knew that he had persevered, he deserved what he had got and that if he could get through last season, he could get through any other season. As he pulled his children and wife close to him, he knew that he’ll always have his family and as he looked at Juan, he knew that everyone associated with Chelsea will be there for him. It had been a tough road here so far, but he knows that he will never walk alone..