Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King

are no laughing matter. Fernando wants to score. He feels that this time it’s right. After four matches with the national side, he needs to get rid of his psychological block. One knows that the first goal for a striker is crucial. Eight minutes after the break, Albelda wins the ball in midfield, passes it directly upfield to Valerón who waits for the right moment – the Italian defenders come out – before giving it to Torres, who shoots across the goal towards the far post, which is out of Peruzzi’s reach. It’s his first goal with the senior squad. A celebration that is rained on three minutes later by Bobo Vieri who, by chance, is an ex-Atlético Madrid player. Torres is also left with the sensation that he could have scored again. This time, however, everyone praises El Niño’s impressive performance.
    He gets the OK for Euro 2004 in Portugal. Iñaki Sáez explains Torres’ call-up like this: ‘He is youth personified. What he has shown in the national side is his character. He has two essential qualities – competitiveness and speed. He is growing and no one knows his limit.’
    In spite of all the praise, the manager, once on Portuguese soil, doesn’t count on him at the beginning. In the first match against Russia, he comes on as a 77th minute substitute for an unlucky Raúl. It’s the same story in the second encounter against Greece, with barely a quarter of an hour on the pitch, once again replacing the team captain. The 10,000 Spanish fans who have arrived in Porto to see the match that could give them qualification to the quarter-finals are encouraged to see him on the pitch. But the ‘little prince’ of Atlético hardly touches the ball. He can’t turn the draw into a win and the resulting stalemate now requires Spain to put everything on a win against the host side, Portugal.
    Lisbon, 20 June 2004, 8.45pm, the José Alvalade stadium, the third and final match day in Group A and this time, El Niño is in the starting line-up. It’s what he was hoping for. He doesn’t want to go home without ever being in the initial eleven, he wants to respond to the expectations that his call-up generated after his eye-catching performance against Italy. ‘I’ve also put a lot into this European competition,’ he says, ‘and we all have great expectations for this tournament. Not to reach the quarter-finals would be a failure,’ and adds: ‘We can’t go into history as another national side that has achieved nothing.’ He’s convinced that ‘if we do things well we shouldn’t have any problems against Portugal.’ After all, Spain had beaten them easily on 6 September of the previous year, on his debut. Of course, this isn’t a friendly, but the idea of getting eliminated doesn’t enter the head of the twenty-year-old with five matches wearing the shirt of Spain. He’s changed his look for the occasion, getting rid of his long locks with a crew-cut down to almost zero. In the absence of his trusted Madrid stylist, he asked Juanito del Betis to shave it off, setting the cutter at Number 1. But the new look doesn’t do much good.
    At the end of the first half, the result is still 0-0. Fernando has hardly been in the game. The person who has been, and who has become a nightmare for the Spanish defence, is Cristiano Ronaldo. His performance is tremendous. The Manchester United winger has lots of opportunites to score but fails, either sending shots wide or through the efforts of Spanish keeper, Iker Casillas. The good news for Spain comes from the other game where Greece are losing 1-2 to Russia. With this scenario, it would be Spain and Greece going through. But with the second half barely under way, it’s clear that the host nation has no intention of being kicked out of its tournament. A great strike by Nuño Gomes puts them 1-0 up in the 56th minute. Saint Iker (Casillas) can’t get to it. Like this, Portugal go through. Five minutes later, Fernando has a chance for the equaliser. A splendid assist from Xabi Alonso, but as keeper Ricardo comes out of his goal, El Niño puts it onto the post. He despairs, he cannot believe it. He puts his head in his hands, his mouth open. Iñaki Sáez still remembers that failed attempt by Fernando: ‘A draw would have been enough and we would have got to the quarter-finals. Instead, we came back home. It was another failure by the national side. To think we’d set off with so much hope. It was a young team with players like Torres, Xavi, Alonso