Fernando Torres has been nicknamed “el niño,” which means
“the boy” in Spanish. For me, though, el niño is the band of warm water
temperatures that occasionally occurs in the Pacific Ocean, which combines with
atmospheric conditions to produce a lot of rain here. Rain that is desperately
needed due to a severe drought in California. So I don’t think it’s a
coincidence that Milan’s new “el niño” could also potentially end a drought of
winning ways for us. He has the potential to be the eye of the storm.
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| Torres should be right at home in the trophy room |
In today’s society, and particularly with the evils of
social media, people are not known for their triumphs, but rather their
failures. Torres is a perfect example of this. No one remembers that in 2008,
Torres finished third for both the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the
Year awards only behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, or even more
recently that he won the Golden Boot award at Euro 2012. Instead, Torres is
remembered for his struggles to score since his move to Chelsea. But before that, he won on the biggest stages. In
addition to winning the World Cup in 2010 and two consecutive Euros with Spain
in 2008 and 2012, he also won the U16 and U19 Euros with Spain in 2001 and
2002. And despite his reputation, he actually won the FA Cup, the Champions
League, and the Europa League with Chelsea, and was even a protagonist in the
latter two wins.
Torres came onto the scene for Atletico Madrid, the club his
grandfather loved and thus so did he. But even before that, he actually began
his career as a child playing goalkeeper like his brother. At the age of seven,
he joined a neighborhood indoor league, where he switched to striker. His
inspiration was reportedly the characters from the Japanese anime series
“Captain Tsubasa,” a show about a footballer and his friends who use
unrealistic and ridiculously flashy moves to score on the pitch. He joined
Atletico Madrid’s youth teams after earning a trial at the age of 11. He signed
his first professional contract with Atletico at the age of 15, and debuted
with the first team shortly after his 17th birthday.
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| The young captain playing for the club of his heart |
His first couple of seasons with Atletico’s first team were
not that impressive, the first due to an injury, and the second season being
played in the Spanish Segunda Division. But he went on to score 91 goals in 244
appearances in all competitions for his beloved club, and was named captain at
the tender age of 19 years old.
From there, Torres would move to the Premier League, with
Liverpool. This is where he really made a name for himself. In four seasons, he
scored 81 goals in 142 appearances. This coincided with his successes for the
Spanish national team as well, with the first Euro win and the World Cup win
coming during his time at Liverpool.
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| A ridiculous amount of goals scored for Liverpool |
Fate would catch up to him, though, as he would move to
Chelsea in January of 2011. After moving there, he made 18 appearances and
scored only one goal in his first six months. Those are Matri numbers, and that is where his reputation
for being washed up comes from. In his four subsequent seasons with Chelsea, he
scored 44 more goals in 154 appearances. Nothing compared to his previous
deluges of goals, but not as shameful as the Matri numbers, either, and a
number of them important goals for the team.
His individual and team awards give him the pedigree of a
world class player, and I do not use that term lightly here. But his past five
years or so have earned him the reputation of a fallen star. So which Torres
will show up for his loan at Milan? Will he let the goals rain again and help
us end our winning drought? Or will he be another a Matri? I really highly
doubt he’ll be the latter. At the age of 30, he may not be the young up and
coming striker that Milan fans wanted, but he also has experience. A lot of
experience. Not just in scoring, but in winning. Winning almost everything
there is to win. And under Pippo’s watchful eye, I believe that he is more
likely to find his form again than not. Also, he has always played his best wearing red. Coincidence? I hope not.
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| People forget that he did score for Chelsea, even if it wasn't as prolifically as before |
And if none of that convinces you, remember that he is a family
man, with a wife and two adorable children. And also that he is a huge Tolkien
fan, with a tattoo of his name in Tengwar, the script Tolkien used to write Elvish
languages, on his left arm. He has also made an appearance in a music video for
El Canto del Loco, a Spanish pop rock group. And he made a cameo appearance in Torrente 3: El protector, a Spanish
comedy film, too. All of these things give his character dimensions, but his
character is a massive bonus for Milan. We are used to reforming thugs, and I
think this is one of the things Inzaghi means when he has talked about bringing
back the Milan DNA. Torres has great character and work ethic, he was
reportedly the first one to training every day at Chelsea, so he’s exactly the
kind of person Milan needs off the pitch, too.
Just as I hope for a lot of rain here in California, I am
hoping that Torres is able to make it rain goals this season, too. Not just for
Milan and for my obvious desire to return to winning ways in the best way
possible. But also for redemption for him. He is a quality player and a good
person who deserves to have another chance to prove his worth. And Milan are in
the perfect situation for him to do just that. With a storm brewing amidst so
many players hungry for winning and redemption, Torres could very well prove to
be the eye of the storm for Milan this year. Benvenuto, Torres!
This post inspired by the music of
The Cure’s “Prayers for Rain”
Our next match is
Parma vs. Milan
Sunday, September 14 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)