Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King

very difficult but we’ll fight to reach the final and then see what happens.’

Chapter 11
A fairy tale
     
    Years later, remembering those days, he can’t think of any words to describe it other than ‘it seemed like a fairy tale’. It was hard to believe, ‘Because everything happened in such a short time, everything went so quickly, it was difficult to take in,’ says Fernando Torres. And he’s right: On 6 May 2001, he was proclaimed Under-16 European champion and on 27 May, exactly three weeks later, at just seventeen, he realised his dream, making his debut with the Atlético Madrid first team at the Vicente Calderón stadium. On 3 June, he scored his first goal for the senior team. And that’s not all, because in-between there was the call-up from Iñaki Sáez to the Under-18 national team, the final of the Spanish Under-19 league and even the news that he’d been sold to Valencia. Unbelievable indeed.
    Let’s take it from the beginning …
    Right after the success with the national side in Europe, it occurs to the Atlético directors that it would be a good idea to include the lad from Fuenlabrada in the first team. The day after the defeat against Murcia the atmosphere is noticeably tense. Hopes of immediately going back up to the first division following relegation are fading. The fans have had enough of everyone – the president, the club, the manager and the players. There are even some attacks against the perceived ‘culprits’. Maybe the Golden Boy of Spanish football, as he has been labelled after the European victory, is just what’s needed.
    Jesús Gil, the club president, thinks Torres could be used to calm the waters of a fan-base on the edge of a nervous breakdown. But he can’t do it straight away. Torres is committed to Iñaki’s Under-18 side. On 16 May, at Vila Real in the Portuguese region of Algarve, Spain play Portugal in the Under-18 European championship. The result is a 1-3 victory with a goal for Fernando Torres. Two weeks later it is possible. Paolo Futre, the Portuguese ex-Number 10, the striker who played seven seasons (1987–93 and then again in 1997–98 after a year with West Ham) in the red and white of Atlético before moving into the club offices as sporting director, picks up the phone. He calls Torres at home and asks the youngster to join up with the first team. The idea is that he should start to get himself used to the dressing room of the senior players, seeing that he will be with them for the 2001–02 pre-season. Torres, having finished his commitments with the national and junior teams, is preparing to go on holiday. At first, he doesn’t understand why Futre is calling him and can hardly believe the sporting director’s words. But he doesn’t let himself get carried away. On the contrary, he replies that if it’s just for training, he would prefer to go on holiday because after the injury and national team duty he hasn’t been able to rest even for a single day. Futre then lets drop the fleeting possibility of being on the bench and Fernando replies immediately with an enthusiastic ‘Yes’.
    On Wednesday, 23 May, Fernando trains with the first team, scores five goals and Futre tells Carlos García Cantarero – the manager who replaced Marcos Alonso for the last seven games of the season – to call him up for the next match. So, on Saturday, 26 May, the youngster went off with his idols. Those who, a week before, he had seen on the pitch from the stands at the Calderón, those whose autographs he had asked for, and those who were now alongside him as his team-mates. The youngster is a bundle of nerves. The atmosphere isn’t hostile but many look sceptically at the new arrival. ‘In the coach, they were making jokes about him. It was the way the squad welcomed him to the group and they were telling him, “you are a boy but one of ours”’, recalls Cantarero.
    Sunday 27 May is the big day. Unforgettable. The heat is unbearable, Atléti are playing at home against Leganés and drawing, with 35,000 in the Calderón whistling and bawling at the players who are seemingly incapable of getting a vital home win. Cantarero raises his hand towards the subs who are exercising to the side of the pitch. He indicates to Fernando José Torres Sanz. The lad runs towards his manager and gets himself changed in a flash. Meanwhile, on the pitch, Luque scores from outside the area to make it 1-0. It is the 54th minute. Cantarero sends Torres to warm-up