Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King

one sticks their nose into other people’s work, as happened at Atlético. English? Ah yes, English – or rather the scouse dialect – is a big problem. Even if, right from the first day, the club has put Rob, a private teacher and fanatical supporter, at his side, even if he has lessons every time he has a moment to breathe. He reads what Rob suggests to him and even watches
Friends
in the original English language version (he already knew the dialogue in Spanish and some of the easier bits), which requires time and patience. During the first few days he admits to understanding absolutely nothing. The people of Liverpool speak at an incredible speed and their accent is an enigma, even for some English people. But he wants to learn so that he can understand and be understood by his team-mates on the pitch, to be able to talk with the fans, to be able to give a press conference without having to resort to the translator. To be sure of saying what he really wants to say. He’s already set the target of the end of the year, or at most, the first months of the next, to make his debut in front of the media. ‘Man on’ and ‘Time’ are the first words of the football vocabulary that he learns. Essentials in order not to let your opponent get the better of you and why the manager’s technical explanations are in English. In the dressing room, Rafa makes it clear that the only language to be spoken is that of William Shakespeare. There’s trouble if he sees Torres whispering in Spanish to Pepe Reina. Just like at school, he sends one to one side of the room and the other to the other. And he repeats patiently, ‘English, please.’ Of course, if there’s a need for a personal explanation, the gaffer is happy to relent and does it in Spanish. Like Pepe, who, in terms of helping him adapt to the club and the city, its customs and practices, has been fundamental – even if, later, when Fernando begins to speak in English in public, he doesn’t hold back from taking the mickey, as is his custom.
    Fernando goes to live in Woolton in a house with a garden where, a few months later, his two boxer dogs, Pomo and Llanta can amuse themselves. It’s a small detached house, which has been left empty by former Liverpool player, Boudewijn Zenden. He likes the area and it also has the advantage of being about 50 metres from the home of Pepe Reina and his wife, Yolanda. A few months later, Olalla will join Fernando and the two couples will become firm friends. Meanwhile, Fernando also has to adapt himself to a city so different from Madrid, which he knew like the back of his hand, where he knew all the routes almost automatically, and his family was nearby. On the few times Fernando has been out and about in his Audi Q7, going very slowly and carefully because of the right-hand drive (the first few trips were very hard and he went the whole time down the middle of the road), he discovers Liverpool to be a friendly, quiet city, where, finally, he can lead a normal life. Where, after training, he can go to eat in the centre with Pepe Reina without anyone bothering him. He can walk into a shopping centre like the Met Quarter or the Trafford Centre, outside Manchester, without being mobbed by supporters. A pleasure and a novelty for a footballer, who, in a now distant 2003, was walking in the La Vaguada shopping centre in Madrid with the aim of buying a pair of shoes and ended up being surrounded by so many fans that the security staff had to close all the entrances so that he could get out safely. But in Liverpool the supporters are polite and prepared to wait hours for a photo or an autograph. ‘It’s a city’, explains The Kid, ‘where, if you give them what they want, they give you everything, and not only on the pitch.’ Indeed, on the pitch. He has to get the measure of the fast, powerful and physical football in England, with its high rhythm, where you can’t take a breather even for a minute, where each time your defenders get the ball you’re in front of your opponents’ goal within three passes and in with a chance to create something. Different from the slower Spanish football, where the little touches are important, where the possession of the ball, for many teams, is an absolute imperative. Fernando had always said the English style was something he could get his teeth into. Now he’s seeing whether it really is to his liking.
    It’s Tuesday, 17 July, when he wears the Liverpool shirt on a pitch for the