Fernando Torres career has come full circle. He fell in love with the game from reading the legendary Japanese comic book "Captain Tsubasa." "I still remember when I was a kid, the signal on the TV wasn’t that good and it was difficult for me to get a proper signal on my TV, but I use to hear everyone in school was talking about this football cartoon comic from Japan," in an interview Torres said back in the year 2012. "This created my interest in the football game and that was the first contact I had with Japan." He said.
The football career last chapter that has seen spells with Liverpool, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and over 100 appearances for Spain, is most likely to take place in Japan as he gets ready to make his debut for Sagan Tosu on Sunday.
For the Japanese fans, it is becoming an increasingly familiar sight. A big name and World Cup winner, scarf of a J. League club. It follows the arrival of Lukas Podolski and Andres Iniesta at Vissel Kobe. The trio from Europe has signed up for clubs that are not the Japanese elite traditional members. These stars not yet joined Urawa Reds, Yokohama F. Marinos or Kashima Antlers, but rather team Sagan Tosu and Vissel Kobe that has had never come close to winning the league title.
Although maybe Kobe or has been a footballing backwater, this city is also of over a million and located in the Kansai region the densely populated one.
Now, there is Torres present, and he wants to put his new team on the map.
He said "I want to raise the football level in Japan with my play. My aim is to make Sagan Tosu the major club. And in August there will be much attention on the cup match as Torres meets Iniesta.