Read Online Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King by Luca Caioli - Free Book Online
Authors: Luca Caioli
Tags: Sport/Biography
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impressions of Briñas, the person who began to train him:
‘Fernando was an open, amusing, happy and very responsible lad who gave everything. He wasn’t the typical joker who took his attitude into the matches. He already had his head well screwed-on. And all that was due to his parents, who told him, “enjoy yourself at football but study”. And he followed that to the letter. I remember once, when I went to meet him at Atocha station, he was coming back from winning a tournament. He got off the train, he had a copy of
Marca
in his hand, where it was talking about him. I thought that he would want to show it to me but no – under the newspaper he had his end-of-term reports. He proudly showed them to me, “Look Manolo, I’ve passed in all subjects. And I’ve got quite a few top grades.” Yes, very often parents think they have a Maradona, they think their son can score the second goal before the first but life isn’t like that. To get there, you have to make sacrifices, not leave school and move forward bit-by-bit.’
And to explain how Torres was, he remembers the away match in Belgium: ‘At dinner, in the hotel, they served a vegetable soup and lots of the lads put their plates to one side without touching it, saying they found it nauseating, so much so that Rangel shouted ‘You don’t play if you haven’t eaten everything.’ It wasn’t necessary to say it to Fernando. He ate anything.’
Bierbeek – the first away match, the first foreign trip, the hotel, the team-mates, the first team base, the first international tournament. A lot of excitement for Fernando in those days of August 1995. Around 30 different teams are taking part in the tournament, including Ajax, Anderlecht, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich – clubs that boast a long tradition of bringing through new talent. Atlético, on the other hand, has only just set up its junior teams. Manolo Rangel is worried about making a bad impression because his lads don’t know each other well. They haven’t even had time to train together. So, in-between matches, he gives them sessions with the ball and while walking round the hotel grounds, tries to explain how they should position themselves on the pitch.
During one of these sessions, he realises that ‘one of them, I think it was Fernando, had kicked a stone and unfortunately it broke a window in someone’s house. The owner came out shouting and protesting, with us not being able to understand what he was saying. We went through some difficult moments before someone from the organisation came and sorted things out.’ A stone that stayed in the memories of the coach and the youngsters. And it may actually have helped to unite the team because, in spite of the improvisation, they finish in sixth place. ‘Fernando stood out quite well and there were a lot of positive comments about him,’ adds Rangel.
It was then 1995–96, the first season in the red-and-white shirt. An important season for the club, which won a league and cup (Copa del Rey) double for the first time in its history. It broke the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona. A success for the team managed by Radomir Antic, whose leading players included Kiko, Pantic, Caminero and Simeone. A double that reinforced the emotional ties between Torres and Atléti. And the pride of wearing the shirt of the Spanish champions.
Fernando was doing his part in the junior divisions. He gets 67 goals and is top-scorer, the sporting leader of the team and the focal point of the group. His skills are showcased in the
Torneo de Brunete
(the Brunete Tournament), a competition in which about twenty junior teams from clubs in the Spanish first division take part and where many young Spanish champions make their early mark. The youngster is fascinated by the atmosphere, the terraces at the Estadio Los Arcos, the television cameras filming the matches, the fans and the watchful eye of the observers and trainers at the games. He scores a succession of
‘Fernando was an open, amusing, happy and very responsible lad who gave everything. He wasn’t the typical joker who took his attitude into the matches. He already had his head well screwed-on. And all that was due to his parents, who told him, “enjoy yourself at football but study”. And he followed that to the letter. I remember once, when I went to meet him at Atocha station, he was coming back from winning a tournament. He got off the train, he had a copy of
Marca
in his hand, where it was talking about him. I thought that he would want to show it to me but no – under the newspaper he had his end-of-term reports. He proudly showed them to me, “Look Manolo, I’ve passed in all subjects. And I’ve got quite a few top grades.” Yes, very often parents think they have a Maradona, they think their son can score the second goal before the first but life isn’t like that. To get there, you have to make sacrifices, not leave school and move forward bit-by-bit.’
And to explain how Torres was, he remembers the away match in Belgium: ‘At dinner, in the hotel, they served a vegetable soup and lots of the lads put their plates to one side without touching it, saying they found it nauseating, so much so that Rangel shouted ‘You don’t play if you haven’t eaten everything.’ It wasn’t necessary to say it to Fernando. He ate anything.’
Bierbeek – the first away match, the first foreign trip, the hotel, the team-mates, the first team base, the first international tournament. A lot of excitement for Fernando in those days of August 1995. Around 30 different teams are taking part in the tournament, including Ajax, Anderlecht, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich – clubs that boast a long tradition of bringing through new talent. Atlético, on the other hand, has only just set up its junior teams. Manolo Rangel is worried about making a bad impression because his lads don’t know each other well. They haven’t even had time to train together. So, in-between matches, he gives them sessions with the ball and while walking round the hotel grounds, tries to explain how they should position themselves on the pitch.
During one of these sessions, he realises that ‘one of them, I think it was Fernando, had kicked a stone and unfortunately it broke a window in someone’s house. The owner came out shouting and protesting, with us not being able to understand what he was saying. We went through some difficult moments before someone from the organisation came and sorted things out.’ A stone that stayed in the memories of the coach and the youngsters. And it may actually have helped to unite the team because, in spite of the improvisation, they finish in sixth place. ‘Fernando stood out quite well and there were a lot of positive comments about him,’ adds Rangel.
It was then 1995–96, the first season in the red-and-white shirt. An important season for the club, which won a league and cup (Copa del Rey) double for the first time in its history. It broke the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona. A success for the team managed by Radomir Antic, whose leading players included Kiko, Pantic, Caminero and Simeone. A double that reinforced the emotional ties between Torres and Atléti. And the pride of wearing the shirt of the Spanish champions.
Fernando was doing his part in the junior divisions. He gets 67 goals and is top-scorer, the sporting leader of the team and the focal point of the group. His skills are showcased in the
Torneo de Brunete
(the Brunete Tournament), a competition in which about twenty junior teams from clubs in the Spanish first division take part and where many young Spanish champions make their early mark. The youngster is fascinated by the atmosphere, the terraces at the Estadio Los Arcos, the television cameras filming the matches, the fans and the watchful eye of the observers and trainers at the games. He scores a succession of
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