The retirement of Fernando Torres after 18 years of active football came as a surprise to many. However the Spaniard deserves the accolades that were given to him after his retirement announcement due to his impact on the beautiful game.
Torres was one of the fearsome strikers in the mid 20002 combining a mixture of pace and skill which is a requirement for all modern strikers. He was one of the first forwards to possesthis two key features in equal proportion and took the Premier League by storm.
His first season in the Premier League was remarkable as he was able to justify his big money move from Atletico Madrid. His combination with Steven Gerard was one of delight as the Liverpool legend was able to find his teammates with long accurate balls. No match describes this deadly partnership than the 4-1 defeat of rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Torres terrorized the defence of Machester United which led to the first goal after a long ball from the Gerard to score his first goal of the match.
At the height of his powers Torrresws regarded as the best number 9 in the game. However his key attributes were what led to his steady decline which was his dependence on pace. As the troublesome hamstring injury continued to plague him, his influence on the pitch began to wane.
A move to Chelsea did not work as planned but he was able to win the Champions League with the club scoring the most famous Chelsea goal of all time against Barcelona.
The next season Torres would complete his trophy haul by winning the Europa League scoring the opening goal in Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat of Benfica. The 35 year old leaves with a slew of trophies including two Euro title and the World Cup won in 2010.