Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King

press officer suggested
tramposo
(“cheat”) and the whole thing became a soap opera in the Spanish media. Here, I wouldn’t have had any hesitation in saying “diver”. Anyway, it’s an old controversy and closed in the best possible way.’

You have played with and managed champion players in Italy, Spain and England. Who does Fernando Torres remind you of?
     
    ‘In one way, he reminds me a lot of Altafini.’ ( José João Altafini, a Brazilian-Italian striker who burst onto the international stage at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, scoring three goals in two matches. He then moved to Italy, playing for Milan, Napoli and Juventus, before finishing his career in Switzerland with Chiasso and Mendrisiostar. He also played for the Italian national team in the 1962 World Cup).

Why?
     
    ‘Because José had this speed and this ability of not being in a game and then playing a crucial role. I would say that Altafini was smarter with his shooting. In front of the posts, when he took up a particular position, it was a certain goal.
    It meant the ball was, effectively, already back in the middle of the pitch for the kick-off. But I’m talking about an Altafini who was by then 30 years old. Torres is still very young – so we must wait.’

Many have compared him to Marco Van Basten, a player who you managed for several seasons at Milan …
     
    ‘No, no. Van Basten moved differently, he had other technical skills, another way of reading the game. Torres is quicker than Van Basten, he likes playing deep, while Van Basten was looking more to link-up with the midfield. No, they’re two different players.’

We now come to the 2008–09 season, which, for Torres, has been full of injuries with one problem after another …
     
    ‘As always after the European and World Cup tournaments, players are injured. Everyone pays for it and the after-effects drag on for months. There’s nothing you can do about it and in the end you pay the price for all that euphoria. After such an important victory, it’s often the mental approach that suffers. What’s certain is that this year he’s not the same and hasn’t been able to do what he was doing before.’
    At this point in the conversation ‘Don Fabio’ (as he is known in Spain) went off on a tangent, analysing the Champions League and the headlines of the Spanish sporting press, which portrayed him as the solution to crisis situations when results were negative and difficult to manage. Later, there was time to look at and appreciate the eye-catching paintings and sculptures that decorated the sitting room. Fabio Capello is an enthusiastic art collector. Perhaps the final question was somewhat prosaic but it was impossible to resist.

How would you describe – pictorially – the playing style of Torres?
     
    [He gave the question much more thought than any other during the entire interview. Then he said decisively:] ‘A Hartung.’
    The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes Hans Hartung (born 21 September 1904, at Leipzig in Germany, died 7 December 1989, at Antibes in France) as: ‘a French painter of German origins, one of the leading European exponents of a completely abstract style of painting. He became particularly well known for his carefully composed, almost calligraphic arrangements of black lines on coloured backgrounds.’
    The catalogue of one of his recent exhibitions is entitled ‘In the Beginning There Was Lightning’.

Chapter 28
Liverpool 4 Real Madrid 0
     
    10 March 2009
    Do you remember
An American Werewolf in London
, a 1981 film directed by John Landis? The landlady of the Scottish pub warns Jack and David, two American lads on holiday, not to go wandering off into the mist, never to leave the road and, above all, to be extra-vigilant whenever there was a full moon. But the pair ignore that good advice and the werewolf makes its savage entrance.
    It’s Tuesday evening at Liverpool and a full moon, bright, radiant, mysterious and threatening, looms over Anfield. But no one has warned the players of Real Madrid. No one has told them they will be meeting the werewolf dressed in red. No one has told them that Fernando Torres, together with Steven Gerrard, will be attacking them right from the first minute. They have not been vigilant. They are ripe for being taken apart without mercy. But before seeing how The Kid gets stuck into them, we take a step back … Twenty days before the first leg of the knockout tie with Real Madrid in the Champions