Fernando Torres #9

Here is a list of 10 of Fernando Torres' greatest achievements during the 2007/08 season:

1.- The Spaniard has the best striking rate for a player in his first season for Liverpool Football Club. Torres has averaged a goal every 1.36 games, finishing ahead of many Anfield legends: John Aldridge (1.55), Ian Rush (1.63), Roger Hunt (1.65), Robbie Fowler (1.83), Michael Owen (1.91) and Kenny Dalglish (2).

2.- Torres finished the season tied in second place with Arsenal's Adebayor in the race for the Premier League's top goalcorer. The Spaniard's tally was only bettered by the Golden Boot winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

3.- His goalscoring debut season is the most prolific for a foreign player in their first season in the Premier League. Fernando Torres scored 24 goals, one more than the previous record holder Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who scored 23 times for Manchester United during the 2000/01 season.

4.- The striker scored a goal every 106 minutes, the second best goals per minute ratio in the Premier League. Top is Cristiano Ronaldo (89.48) followed by Adebayor (123.08, Arsenal), Roque Santa Cruz (169.21, Blackburn Rovers), Berbatov (201.06, Tottenham) and Roy Keane (182.60, Tottenham).

5.- With his 33 goals this season, Torres has become the Reds highest goalscorer in this, the 21st century. Michael Owen held the previous record, which was achieved with 28 goals in the 2002/03 season. Fernando also became the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler to score more than 20 goals in the league.

6.- The forward became the first player to score in eight consecutive home games since Roger Hunt. The Liverpool legend achieved the same feat during the 1961/62 season, but the record was made when the Reds were playing in the English Second Division. Torres scored versus Manchester City in the Anfield club's final home game of the season, so the striker can still extend his record with a goal in his first Premier League of the new season at Anfield.

7.- Torres became the first player in 61 years to score back-to-back hat-tricks at Anfield with goals against Middlesbrough and West Ham. The last player to score two trebles was Jackie Balmer back in 1946.

8.- Only three Premier League teams did not have to pick the ball out of their net after a Torres shot or header. Manchester United and Aston Villa have survived, at least for this season, meanwhile Birmingham City were relegated to the Championship, and will not face the Reds next year.

9.- Torres helped break manager Rafa Benitez' negative record at Stamford Bridge of never having seen his side score against Chelsea on home soil. The Liverpool striker broke the Reds duck with the equaliser versus the Blues in the return-leg of the Champions League semi-final.

10.- The PFA (Professional Footballers' Association), selected Fernando Torres in the top starting eleven, voting the striker as the second best player in this season's Premier League. The Liverpool striker became the first Spaniard to finish in the top three during the more than 60-year history of the award.
Get a Great Liverpool C

Fernando José Torres Sanz (born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football player currently playing for Liverpool. In the five seasons preceding his move to Liverpool from Atletico Madrid, Torres scored 75 goals in 176 La Liga appearances, with only Ronaldo, Samuel Eto'o and David Villa bettering that tally during the same period. Prior to that, Torres played two seasons in the Spanish second division.He has also been given the nickname El Nino.

Early career

From an early age, Torres developed a bond with Atletico Madrid. His grandfather wasn't passionate about football in general but prided himself in being an Atletico supporter, and the younger Torres soon inherited his love for the club.

When he was 7, the young Torres started playing regularly in an indoor league for his neighborhood club, Mario's Holland, as a forward. Three years later, aged 10, he progressed to playing for an 11-side team, Rayo 13. After an impressive season with his new club, in which he scored 55 goals, Torres was one of three Rayo 13 players who earned a trial with Atletico Madrid. He impressed the scouts and, aged just 11, joined the club in 1995.

Atletico Madrid

1995-2000: Atletico youth team

After progressing through the ranks for a few seasons, Torres won his first important youth title in 1998, Although he had his eye on an English club called Liverpool at the time. Atletico sent an under-15 team to compete in Nike Cup Europe, against youth teams from prominent European clubs including Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Fenerbahce. Atletico won the tournament, with Liverpool drawing closely second. Torres was now mad about Liverpool and asked his manager if he could leave for Liverpool when he was just 16! He was later voted the best player in Europe for that age-group which made Liverpool keep an eye on him.

In 1999, aged 15, Torres fulfilled his childhood dreams and signed his first contract with Atlético Madrid. He spent his first year playing in the promising Atletico under 19 team, but it was in the following season that he really made his mark,in 2000 he was voted mejor jugador cada vez que venir de Madrid or Best player ever to come from Madrid and 7 years onwards, that club in England who had their eyes on him were going to sign the goal-scorer for an amazing £23.5M

2000-01: Debut season

The 2000-01 season had started badly, as Torres suffered from a broken leg that kept him out of action until December, but that proved to be only a temporary setback. In February 2001, he was part of the Spanish under-16s team that won the Algarve Tournament, in May he was part of the same team that won the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship and by the end of the season he was playing for Atletico's senior team. Torres's first team debut on May 27, 2001, at El Calderon, against Leganes. A week later, he scored his first goal for the club, in a game against Albacete. His nickname is 'El Nino', which translates to The Kid.

2001-02: Promotion to La Liga

2001-02 saw Atletico win promotion back to La Liga.The then-17-year-old Torres didn't have the best of seasons in front of goal, though, netting only six times in 36 appearances in the Segunda Division.In November, Torres represented Spain at the 2001 FIFA Under-17 World Championship. He scored one goal in three games, but the team didn't progress past the group stage. Later that season, in July, Torres won the 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Again he scored the only goal in the final and ended as the tournament's leading goalscorer (4 goals in 4 games) and best player.

2002-03: La Liga debut

2002 saw Atletico Madrid returning to La Liga, the first division of Spanish football. In his first season playing in the top flight, Torres did not find the transition from second-tier football too much of a hindrance, and he scored 13 goals in 29 appearances as Atletico finished 12th. He also made his debut for the Spanish under-20 team.

2003-04: Atletico captain

In 2003-04 season Torres made further strides, and he scored 19 league goals in just 35 appearances. Aged just 19, he was also named Atletico's club captain. Atletico also improved, to 7th, but narrowly missed out on an automatic UEFA Cup place on the final day of the season by virtue of an inferior goal difference in their head-to-head record against Sevilla (2-1, 0-2). However, Atletico's 7th place finish in 2004 did allow them to compete in the Intertoto Cup, giving Torres his first taste of European club competition. They made the final, but lost on penalties, this time to Villarreal. Fernando Torres was the youngest player ever to captain Atletico Madrid before transferring to Liverpool FC.

2005-07: Transfer speculation

After the 2006 World Cup, in which Torres participated as a member of the Spanish national team, the striker admitted that he had turned down the chance to join Chelsea at the end of the 2005-06 season. Following the 2006-07 season, Torres's future at Madrid was once again the subject of speculation after Atletico's inability to secure an automatic UEFA Cup spot. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were all linked with a move for the player, with reports in the English media stating that Torres was the main transfer target of Liverpool.

The rumours reached such a fever pitch that Atlético president Enrique Cerezo made a statement saying, "We've received no offer from Liverpool or any other club or player." However, a few days later new reports suggested Atlético had agreed a deal with Liverpool for Torres; the fee rumoured was £25 million with Luis Garcia moving in the opposite direction in a separate transfer deal. Then on 30 June Atletico announced a deal with Villareal to sign Diego Forlan, which was seen as a move to replace Torres before his departure had become official.

2007: Leaving Atletico

On July 2 it was reported Torres had cut short his holiday to fly back to Madrid to finalise the move. The following day, Torres passed a medical for Liverpool and it was announced that a farewell press conference would be held in Madrid the on 4 July to bid farewell to the Atletico Madrid fans. Later that day, Atletico officially confirmed his transfer to Liverpool on their website, receiving around £26 million for Torres. In March 2008, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez confirmed to The Times that Torres was acquired for around £20 million.

International career

In February 2001, Torres won the Algarve Tournament with the Spain under-16 team. In May, the under-16s took part in the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship, which they also won, with Torres scoring the only goal in the final.He finished as the tournament's leading goalscorer (7 goals in 6 games) and was also voted the best performer.

In 2003, Torres made his senior debut for the full Spanish national team on September 6, 2003 in a friendly against Portugal. His first goal for Spain came against Italy on April 28, 2004. Torres was chosen as part of the Spanish squad for Euro 2004. He only appeared as a late substitute in Spain's first two group games, but made the first eleven for the deciding game against Portugal. Spain lost 1-0 and were eliminated. At his first ever appearance in a World Cup finals at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Torres scored the final goal in a 4-0 victory over Ukraine with a volley. In the second group match, Torres scored twice against Tunisia, in the 76th minute for Spain to take the lead 2-1 and then again from a penalty kick in the 90th.

In order to prepare for Euro 2008, Spain's No. 9 player, Fernando Torres rushed back to Spain in a hurry. Although there's a lot of duties on hand, coach Luis Aragones had a 2 hour discussion with the Liverpool's striker but as the best foreign import in the English Premiership and one of the most outstanding foreign imports, Fernando Torres had already knew that today is China's mourning day. He especially set aside time, changed his red national jersey into a white shirt and as a representative for Spain's football team, grieved together with all China's citizens on the lives lost during last week's earthquake.

Torres being one member of the 11 teams participating in Euro 2008, hope to express his condolences to all fans in China through Sohu.com. "I have been paying attention to China's earthquake and the relief efforts in England. I feel sad for the victims and admire the dedication of the rescue workers. I am very fortunate to visit this great country and fans during my last trip to Shanghai (Torres visited Shanghai in 2006 with Atletico Madrid). At this moment, I just want to say: I am with you, I am willing to share all the pain and sadness with all Chinese friends."

After the exclusive photoshoot for Sohu, Torres added, "I saw a lot of students and children in distress on television. I have already informed my management company and hope that they are able to set up a relief fund." 2007-2008 is Torres' first season at the English Premiership. He has scored a total of 24 goals and shattered Ruud van Nistelrooy's record in 2003-2004 for most Premier League goals in a debut campaign by a foreign player.

Apparently the organiser for Ronaldo's friends vs Zidane's friends are currently looking into organising a charity football match to be held either in China or other location and all proceeds will be donated. Torres expressed that he will participate in this charity match unconditionally irregardless of any vacation or other factors.