Fernando José Torres Sanz (Spanish pronunciation: [ferˈnando ˈtores]; born 20 March 1984), nicknamed El Niño (The Kid in Spanish),[4] is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker.Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his first team debut in 2001 and finished his career with the club having scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Prior to his La Liga debut, Torres played two seasons in the Segunda División, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. He joined Premier League club Liverpool in 2007 after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by being Liverpool's first player, since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season, to score more than 20 league goals in a season. Torres became the fastest player in Liverpool history to score 50 league goals after scoring against Aston Villa in December 2009. He left the club in January 2011 to join Chelsea for a record British transfer fee of £50 million, which also made him the most expensive Spanish player in history.
Torres is a Spanish international and made his debut for the country against Portugal in 2003. He has since participated in four major tournaments, UEFA Euro 2004, the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Torres did not score at Euro 2004, but netted three at the 2006 World Cup. He scored twice at UEFA Euro 2008, including the winning goal for Spain in their 1–0 win over Germany in the final. Spain also won the 2010 World Cup, but Torres did not score any goals during the tournament.
Torres playing for Chelsea | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fernando José Torres Sanz[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 20 March 1984 [2] | ||
| Place of birth | Fuenlabrada, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[3] | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Chelsea | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–2001 | Atlético Madrid | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2007 | Atlético Madrid | 214 | (82) |
| 2007–2011 | Liverpool | 102 | (65) |
| 2011– | Chelsea | 13 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2000 | Spain U15 | 1 | (0) |
| 2001 | Spain U16 | 9 | (11) |
| 2001 | Spain U17 | 4 | (1) |
| 2001 | Spain U18 | 1 | (1) |
| 2002 | Spain U19 | 5 | (6) |
| 2002–2003 | Spain U21 | 10 | (3) |
| 2003– | Spain | 84 | (26) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:41, 18 May 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 02:41, 18 May 2011 (UTC) | |||
