Fernando Jose Torres Sanz, more commonly known as just Fernando Torres, was born in Madrid, Spain, on 20 March 1984. He currently plays in the Premiership for Liverpool Football Club and is viewed as one of the best strikers in the world. Fernando has been successful throughout his career, from his time in Spain with Atletico Madrid to his time at Liverpool and at international level with Spain.Like many young boys, Torres developed a keen interest to the beautiful game from a young age. His grandfather was a keen Atletico Madrid supporter and his brother played at an amateur level as a goalkeeper. Initially, Fernando Torres wanted to emulate the bit of success his brother had in that position. However, as with many players they find out their best position a few years into playing. Despite starting off as a goalkeeper, Torres developed an eye for goal and after scoring 55 goals for academy club Rayo 13, he soon realized that his best position was upfront.
In 1995, Spanish club Atletico Madrid trailed three of Rayo 13's star players, with Fernando being one of them. He impressed at his trial, and they decided to sign the young striker at the age of eleven.
Fernando Torres continued to make great progress through the ranks at the club during his teenage years, and his first chance to impress on a global scale came when Atletico Madrid decided to enter a team in the U15 Nike Cup. They won the tournament, with Torres voted the best player. Many were starting to see the potential in him, and his prospect excited many fans of the Spanish club. At 15, he signed a professional contract with the club, and made his first team debut at the age of 17 against Leganes. Atletico were then promoted back to La Liga in 2001-02 season. Eventually, he went on to become club captain and scored 84 goals from 214 appearances for the team he had been with for many years. Despite this emotional attachment, when Liverpool came in with an offer of around £20 Million, he decided to leave the club for England in 2007.
Torres had the opportunity to showcase his skills in the Premiership and for Liverpool. With the high transfer fee, many thought he may not respond well to the pressure being placed on him by the football world. This, however, was not the case.
The striker settled quickly at Liverpool, and immediately started to score goals on a regular basis. His first hat-trick was scored in September against Reading. He went on to score 33 goals in total, and since has become a respected figure in the Liverpool team and has scored 9 goals in all competitions so far in the 2008/09 season.
Fernando Torres has also impressed at an international level for Spain and is known for scoring the winning goal against Germany in the Euro 2008 final. He continues to impress for both club and country and is recognized as one of the best strikers in the game.
