Fernando Torres - Walking alone to mediocrity?

Euro 2008 final...Vienna

Fernando Torres exults after scoring the winner against Germany (getty images)

The last time that Spain had won a major international trophy of repute was the 1964 European Championships, post which they slipped into footballing mediocrity.

As the German and Spanish national anthems are played out at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion, a young Fernando Torres stands in rapt attention, probably aware of the fact that negotiating past a back-line of Phiilip Lahm, Per Mertesacker and Arne Friedrich, would be akin to a steamboat trying to harry past a sea of jagged rocks.

Both teams are in the form of their lives and have reached the final on back of some enterprising football.

So as the 51,428 strong crowd sing and make merry in the stands...referee Roberto Rosetti blows his whistle and kickstarts proceedings!

33rd minute!

With the score deadlocked at 0-0, Spain and Germany resemble two heavyweight boxers trying to land that elusive knockout punch.

The ball finds Xavi who fires a pin-point pass to Torres, who lurks like a wolf amongst Germany's defenders.

As the ball nears Torres, the Spaniard almost magically shadows past the iron-hand watchfulness of Lahm and Mertesacker, in a space of three quick seconds.

With Mertesacker left flailing in the air, Torres pounds in on goal, rocketing past Lahm, who has no anwswer to lightning quick pace.

And as keeper Jens Lehmann slides in desperately...Torres pulls the trigger...

GOAL!

Spain are leading and as Torres is swarmed by overjoyed team-mates...Germany have been blown away by a moment of sheer magic!

Hail 'El Nino'!

The rise of Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres set Anfield alight with some memorable performances (getty images)
 

That goal brought to light Torres' ability as a world class striker, who could put to sword even the best of defences.

Torres, on that starry Vienna night ended Spain's long awaiting trophy drought, and also made his name as a striker of unparalled talent.

Pace...control...dribble...finish...there was nothing that Torres couldn't do, as Spain had finally unearthed a striker of top-class calibre, since the good old days of Raúl González. 

Though the sandy-haired Torres was spoken of in hushed tones, during his progress as a youth player in Spain, he burst onto the big stage, thanks to a flurry of goals during his time at Atletico Madrid.

Six years at Atletico saw Torres propel the club from Segunda Division battlers to La Liga contendors, and after 82 goals in 214 appearances...Liverpool came knocking at Madrid to grab his much vaunted signature!

Anfield legacy!

Torres' four-year stint at Liverpool earmarked him as one of the finest strikers in world football, thanks to his stellar goal-scoring form, which saw Liverpool rise as a Premier League force once again.

Liverpool had found a striker who could bulldoze defences with blazing runs and unerring accuracy in front of goal, which saw the club rise from strength to strength.

Most notable was the 2008-09 season, when Torres ripped apart Manchester United at Old Trafford, and gave Alex Ferguson's side a footballing lesson during that memorable 4-1 win.

Four days earlier, Torres had conjured up a similar act in the Champions League, as he starred in Liverpool's 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid at Anfield, and had forever endeared himself in the good books of die-hard Kopites.

So as Torres fired on all cylinders at Liverpool and helped the club finish second in the league that season, with a record haul of 86 points...two years later he would go on to make the posh locales of central London as his abode!

North London fiasco...the fairy tale ends!

Torres' entry at North London was a high profile affair, as the Blues splashed out a massive 50 million pound fee to secure his services.

Though Chelsea broke the British transfer record in signing Torres, still it was unclear as to whether the Spaniard would do well to adapt his style at Stamford Bridge and continue on from where he left at Liverpool.

Three seasons, 110 appearances and 20 goals later, Torres was a much villified figure at North London and almost everyone at the club were left clamouring for his imminent exit.

Torres transformed from a lethal goal-machine to a sputtering and under-confident version, which raised questions as to whether this was the very same player, who not long ago had Premier League defenders shuddering with fear?

Goals quickly dried up for Torres, with each and every game resembling a mountainous task for the lithe forward.

He hit an all time low during the 2011 season when he horribly missed a sitter against United at Old Trafford, which left fans in the galleries howling with laughter.

That miss symbolized Torres' predicament at the club, which left a big question mark hanging over his future at Stamford Bridge.

After langushing in the bleachers for a majority part of his Chelsea career, Torres was hauled off to AC Milan on loan in 2014, where he could only manage a solitary goal in 10 appearances throughout the season.

Career highs

Though Torres is now back at Atletico Madrid, in search of that elusive pot at the end of the rainbow, still he did experience moments of magic during his time at Stamford Bridge.

If his memorable goal against Barcelona in the 2011 Champions League semi-final at the Nou Camp helped the Blues win a thrilling contest, he did one better by putting up a 

battling performance against Bayern Munich in the final, which the Blues eventually won.

Even his goal in the 2012-13 Europa League final triumph over Benfica did a world of good to his battered confidence, and thus hammered home a point that all was not finished 

yet for the sandy-haired Spaniard.

The Europa League win was a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy career for Torres (getty images)

The international arena saw him win the 2008 and 2012 European Championships as well as the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with a Spanish side brimming with enormous talent and at 

the peak of their powers.

Success with Spain probably proved to be a healing factor for Torres, who now would do well to get his act together, and try and replicate his glory years at Anfield.

With the Milan spell ending in disaster, Torres may well be clutching on to the straws of his dear past, as under Diego Simeone, he would look to roll back the clock and set the 

football pitch alight with some trailblazing performances.

So as Atletico continue on with their recent resurgence in European and Spanish football, they may well have laid the platform for Torres to have a shot at glory once more, this time in a more sophisticated and better avatar of himself!