Free Torres: An Intimate Portrait of the Kid Who Became King by Luca Caioli Page A

and the effort he puts in. Our relationship, which lasted two years, was more of a professional than a personal one. When I look at the great managers that he’s had during his career, for him to remember me like this gives me a lot of pride and satisfaction.’

When did you begin to work with him?
     
    ‘Fernando was fifteen and had just won the Nike International Cup in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where he was top scorer and been voted the player of the tournament. He was with me until 2001, when he made his debut with the first team.’

How was Fernando at fifteen?
     
    ‘A player with a tremendous build, which comes from his family (his older brother, Israel, was 6ft 3ins when he was fifteen). He had the muscles of a sprinter, was fast, skilful, smart, hungry for victory and always wanting to get better. He was very professional, self-critical and never 100 per cent happy with how he was playing. He put the bar high. He had a strong personality. On a mental level, to me he always resembled Raúl for his strength of spirit. For his importance as a footballer, I would compare him to Van Basten with his elegant style of running and capacity for scoring goals. From when he was small, he was always thinking of the goal, of scoring.’

And off the field, how did he behave?
     
    ‘He wasn’t a docile lad. Dealing with him, sometimes, was tricky. He was quite shy and would mind his own business. From when he was a small boy, he was sheltered by his family, which knew how to keep him on the straight and narrow. I remember his father or mother always brought him to training sessions and I never saw them brag about the lad. His personality and his environment have absolutely been key to Fernando’s success.’

Abraham paused a moment before reflecting on his work …
     
    ‘In all the years that I’ve been training youngsters – and I’ve worked with more than 300 – only about fifteen or twenty have gone on to be professional footballers. Talent is inborn, each one (of them) has it, but to reach the top level – that’s something else. You must stick to your guns. You’ve got to have your feet on the ground, to know what’s really important in life, to earn yourself a place in the team, to fight for a position and to overcome enormous difficulties, particularly psychological ones. To put it simply, you not only have to have the gift of being able to control a football – your mentality, desire and determination counts for a hell of a lot as well. This is the most important thing that I’ve tried to instil into my players, apart from obviously giving them a training in those technical skills that could be useful to them in the future.’

What exactly did you teach Fernando?
     
    ‘All I did was try to tell him some things that, at a sporting and human level, could help him deal with whatever might come his way. I told him to be what he’s always been
,
an ambitious young guy who’d be able to sort out the shortcomings he had, as everyone has, and in the end his desire to do things well would overcome any criticism or difficult moments. Then, more as a joke than anything else, I told him not to worry, that if one day the football didn’t work out, with his looks and general appearance, he could always earn a living in the world of fashion. And now look where he is, a star player as well as being a model in loads of advertising campaigns.’

What are your best memories of Fernando at that time?
     
    ‘Without doubt, a fantastic goal he scored in the league against Rayo Vallecano. He got hold of the ball in the middle of the pitch, he went past one, two, three, dribbling his way through the opposition midfield leaving them rooted to the spot and then scoring an amazing goal. And then after that, how can you forget the trophies we won with that team? For example, the league title, which we snatched from Real Madrid. A pity about the Cup though, Fernando was a member of the Spanish national side that had just won the