Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King

born little more than a month ago, then he dives across the Viennese grass. He shouts his head off and is lost in a sea of hugs from his team-mates. He doesn’t forget Villa, who’s not playing in the final. He reciprocates the dedication that El Guaje had made to him in the first match of the tournament. ‘This victory is for David, who has been suffering on the bench like one of the fans,’ he says.
    Germany are nowhere. Michael Ballack, whose eyebrow is split open after a clash of heads, is doing all he can to motivate his side. He gets furious and takes it out on everyone, the referee included, but he is a symbol of his team’s impotence.
    In the second half there are chances for Ramos and Dani Güiza, but for the Spanish it’s hard work. In the 78th minute Torres is taken off, but then comes the final, liberating whistle of Roberto Rossetti. And the Spanish party starts. Everyone goes mad on the pitch and across the country, where, after 44 years, they can finally shout: ‘Champions! Champions!’
    ‘When you are a boy, and see these matches on TV, you dream of being there. Now that I am here I find it difficult to realise what I’ve achieved. At last justice has been done and this team has recovered its due place in Europe,’ says Fernando Torres as he walks off the field, the Spanish flag wrapped around him. At a press conference, having been chosen best player of the game – as he was twice in previous junior European Championships – he makes an intelligent and concise speech for the world’s media: ‘I am happy because Spanish football needed a success like this one after so many years. Besides, this triumph is really going to help football in general because it has been the best team that has won the European Championship, a team that’s had a great tournament, and that doesn’t always happen. We are proud that we have promoted the idea of attractive football, which is enjoyable to watch, even for a neutral spectator. We are a team that knows how to use the ball. This has been a success for both the manager, who persevered with the idea, and for the players, who knew how to take the concept on board and apply it. The group is the main weapon of this team. All of us – the players who have been on the pitch a lot, and those who have been on the pitch less, as well as the technicians and the rest of the staff – have to feel just as happy. It is the victory of being together. To win is always good, but to do it like this is even better. We have kept the style, our way of playing throughout the whole tournament. And we’ve won. That shows that it is possible to play well and get results at the same time.’ Almost a masterclass in the art of football and the Beautiful Game – traditionally the territory of Brazilians. Torres lays claim to a certain style. His goal matches this philosophy and it’s a sign of how the mentality of the national side has changed. ‘Yes, it’s another indication that this national side has known how to mature. Maybe before, we’ve lacked those elements, like continuing to chase loose balls or the quality of the team’s defending. Now we are champions and we have more experience to go after more trophies. Let’s hope this is just the beginning.’ He’s just won but already El Niño is looking to the future, but he’s clearly one of those people in life who are never satisfied. As he waits for his future to unfold, he knows he has scored the goal of a lifetime; he is aware that he has had a profound influence – just like Marcelino – and he knows that he’s entered ‘in people’s hearts and in the history of Spain for ever’.
    Next day the headlines in the Spanish press pay homage to this sensation:
    ‘Torres, the Golden Kid, scores a goal for history’ –
El Mundo
    ‘A goal from ‘The Kid’ Fernando Torres gives birth to the first champion team after waiting 44 years for the delivery’ –
La Vanguardia
    ‘Thank you,
Niño
, you are a legend’ –
AS
    ‘El Niño has become a man’ –
Sport
    ‘Marcelino’s heir’ –
Público
    ‘Torres goal reaches mythical heights’ –
Marca
     
    And it is not only the Spanish press that praises him. Newspapers from
The Times,
to the
New York Times,
from
La Gazzetta dello Sport
to
L’Équipe,
from the
Guardian
to
Clarín,
Torres is the unquestionable hero. He’s the King, agree both
The Times
and
La Gazzetta dello Sport
. After being hidden from the rest of Europe he has taken the sceptre and