Fernando José Torres Sanz (Spanish pronunciation: [ferˈnando ˈtores]; born 20 March 1984), nicknamed El Niño (The Kid in Spanish), is a Spanish footballer who plays for Liverpool and the Spain national team as a striker.
Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth system. 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 1995–96, 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 is also 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. He did not score a goal at UEFA Euro 2004, but he scored three at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Torres scored twice at UEFA Euro 2008, which included the winning goal for Spain in their 1–0 win over Germany in the Final. He won the 2010 FIFA World Cup with Spain, despite himself not scoring any goals.
