Fernando Torres

Born in Fuenlabrada, Community of Madrid, Torres loved football as a child and joined his first youth team, Parque 84, at age five. His grandfather was an Atlético Madrid fan. Torres began playing football as a goalkeeper. At age seven, he began playing as a striker for Mario’s Holanda, the neighbourhood’s 'indoor football' club, using the characters from the anime Captain Tsubasa as inspiration. At age 10, he joined Rayo 13 and scored 55 goals in his first season. He later joined Atlético’s youth system at age 11 in 1995.

Atlético Madrid

After progressing through the ranks, Torres won his first important youth title in 1998. Atlético sent an under-15 team to compete in the Nike Cup, in Spain and Europe, to play against youth teams from other clubs; Atlético won the tournament. He was later voted the best player in Europe for the age group. In 1999, at the age of 15, Torres signed his first professional contract with Atlético. He spent his first year playing in the youth team and participated in the Honor Division when he was 16. The 2000–01 season had started poorly, as Torres suffered from a cracked shinbone which kept him out of play until December. Torres trained with the first team to get prepared for pre-season, but eventually made his debut on 27 May 2001, at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, against Leganés. One week later, he scored his first goal for the club, against Albacete, and the season finished with Atlético narrowly missing out on promotion to La Liga. Atlético were promoted to La Liga at the end of the 2001–02 season, although Torres did not perform well in the season, as he netted only 6 times in 36 appearances in the Segunda División. Torres's first season in La Liga, 2002–03, was better, however, as he scored 13 goals in 29 appearances, with Atlético finishing in 11th place. In July 2003, soon after his takeover of the club, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had a £28 million bid for Torres rejected by Atlético's board of directors. In the 2003–04 season, his second in…

2001–02: Success at youth level

In February 2001, Torres won the Algarve Tournament with the Spain national under-16 team. The under-16s took part in the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Championship in May, which they also won, with Torres scoring the only goal in the final, as well as finishing as the tournament's leading scorer, and was also named the player of the tournament. In September 2001, Torres represented the under-17 team at the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship, but the team failed to progress through the group stage. In July 2002, he won the 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship with the under-19 team and was again the only goalscorer in the final. Also, he finished as top scorer and was named player of the tournament.

2003–06: Senior debut and early years

Torres debuted for the Spanish senior squad on 6 September 2003 in a friendly against Portugal, scoring his first goal against Italy on 28 April 2004. He was selected for the Spanish squad for UEFA Euro 2004. After appearing as a late substitute in Spain's first two group games, he started for the deciding game against Portugal. Spain were losing 1–0 and, towards the end of the game, he hit the post.

Torres scored 7 goals in 11 appearances in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, making him Spain's top scorer for qualification, including a vital two goals against Belgium and his first international hat-trick against San Marino. At his first ever appearance in a FIFA World Cup finals at…

Torres was described as having "an eye for the spectacular" and being "capable of world-class skill", as well as being regarded as a "technically proficient, highly successful striker". He had the ability to find open spaces and capitalize on defensive errors. A hard-working striker, Torres was known for chasing down and putting pressure on opposing defenders. He was also capable of creating chances for other attackers; this also saw him being deployed in a deeper role as a second striker on occasion. Due to his consistent goalscoring as a young player, Torres was nicknamed El Niño ('The Kid'). He could score with his head and both feet. In his prime (2007–2010), his prolific goalscoring earned him a reputation as the best striker in the world at that time. Prior to the 2009 Confederations Cup, the CBC described him as: "The golden boy of Spanish soccer and one of the most dangerous forwards in the game. Nicknamed El Niño (The Kid), Torres is coming off a solid second season for Liverpool in which he scored 14 goals. Torres is lightning quick, a deadly finisher and a player of such high class with the ball at his feet that he routinely makes the spectacular look ordinary." However, Torres lost most of his pace and form in later seasons due to injuries.