Showing posts with label Torres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Torres. Show all posts

Friday, December 14, 2012

Chelsea prepare for 'football party' at Club World Cup against Corinthians

The boos from Chelsea fans aimed at Rafa Benitez may not have been completely silenced by the Stamford Bridge club's convincing win over Monterrey on Thursday.

But on the pitch at least, the mood was visibly lifted as Juan Mata opened the scoring, while Fernando Torres was also on target and David Luiz dominated the midfield.

And Mata summed up the atmosphere best after the game as he looked ahead to the Club World Cup final clash with Corinthians.

"We have confidence about winning but we know Corinthians are one of the best teams in South America," he said.

"It will be a football party and hopefully we will win."
 

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Uefa stun the world with shock Best Player in Europe Award nominee

Things just keep getting better for Fernando Torres, with the Chelsea striker a shock member of Uefa's 32-man shortlist for the European Player of the Year Award.
After another campaign filled with stutters, the Spaniard rounded off the footballing year by enjoying Champions League glory with the Blues before helping Spain to Euro 2012 success, in turn grabbing the top goalscorer award in Poland and Ukraine.

Yet despite the 28-year-old's turnaround in form towards the end of the season, his inclusion amongst Europe’s top players comes as something of a surprise…

Monday, July 2, 2012

Spain smash all the records at Euro 2012

Spain secured their third major international tournament victory on the trot by emphatically beating Italy 4-0 in the final of Euro 2012.

First-half goals from David Silva and Jordi Alba gave La Roja a half-time lead before late strikes from Fernando Torres and Juan Mata added a gloss to the scoreline.

Their run of trophies on the international stage is unprecedented but that was not the only record that Spain smashed in Poland and Ukraine.

Their 4-0 victory over the Azzurri was the biggest ever in a European Championship final, while Iker Casillas became the first player to win 100 international matches.

13 Spain players are the first to appear in and win two European Championship finals and Fernando Torres and Xavi are the first to score and assist respectively in two of those games.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Fans fly the Irish flag while players wave white ones

After a 3-1 defeat to Croatia in their opening game of Euro 2012, Republic of Ireland took on reigning world and European champions Spain, hoping to pull of a shock and keep their Euros dreams alive.
Unfortunately for the Irish, those dreams quickly turned into a nightmare as an early goal from Fernando Torres set the tone for a difficult evening for the Boys in Green.

Goals by David Silva, Cesc Fabregas and a second for Torres followed as Spain ran out 4-0 winners to put an end to Giovanni Trapattoni's hopes of a quarter-final berth, despite the magnificent backing from the Irish fans.
 

Monday, June 11, 2012

Buffon blocks goal-shy Torres' scoring thoughts

He had the chances to break down Italy's resolute defence and hand Spain a victory in their opening Group C clash but Fernando Torres' poor club form appears to have followed him into Euro 2012.

After Cesc Fabregas, the player who was selected to lead the Spanish attack in favour of Torres, cancelled out Antonio Di Natale's opening goal for Italy, the Chelsea man was brought on to grab the winner for the reigning European champions.
But after Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a superbly timed last-ditch tackle to stop Torres from scoring, the Chelsea man followed with a wayward lob over an open goal after being put clean through.
 

Friday, June 8, 2012

Euro 2012 race set to start

The day has finally arrived. Euro 2012 will kick off this evening as tournament co-hosts Poland take on Greece in Group A's opening fixture.

With all 16 nations having made all of their final preparations ahead of the tournament, it's now left to us to sit back and enjoy day after day of world-class football.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Chelsea's Drogba love story comes to an end

Didier Drogba confirmed on Tuesday that he will leave Chelsea this summer after an eight-year spell in west London in which he has cemented his place as a club legend.

The Ivorian's last kick for the Blues came in Saturday's Champions League final victory, with his penalty sealing a dramatic win for Roberto Di Matteo's side and also his very own fairytale swansong.

While John Terry made a last ditch attempt to persuade Drogba to stay during Sunday's open-top bus parade, Chelsea have no choice but to accept the 34-year-old's decision, handing Fernando Torres the opportunity to take up his mantle in the side.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Blues will not be following their leader

John Terry missed out on a chance to redeem himself for his penalty miss in the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow, after a moment of madness from the Chelsea skipper saw him knee Alexis Sanchez in the back in the first half of the Blues' semi-final second leg against Barcelona at Camp Nou.

The ensuing red card means Terry will miss the final itself this time around, as his team-mates went on to defend valiantly for the best part of an hour without a recognised centre-half to book their ticket to the May 19 final in Munich in the most thrilling of circumstances.

The Chelsea bus rolls on to their next destination, but Terry will have to hitch a ride in the Lionel Messi boat after the Argentine fluffed his penalty and will also miss the final.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

24 hours later ...

Chelsea's Fernando Torres finally got on the scoresheet on Sunday, after going an astonishing 1541 minutes without a goal. The Spanish striker bagged a double against Leicester City in the FA Cup sixth round to cap an impressive performance, in which his side won 5-2. The former Liverpool man had previously not scored in over 24 hours of football, and can finally lay to rest the quip, "he wouldn't score if he was there all day".

Monday, February 20, 2012

Fernando Torres' love story

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has admitted what everyone already knew - that he "cannot score" goals any longer. With only five strikes in nearly 50 games for the Blues since his £50 million transfer from Liverpool a year ago - and in the week of Valentine's Day - the once-prolific forward must be feeling like a spurned lover as he ponders how to rekindle his romance with the back of the net ...

Friday, January 20, 2012

Abramovich adds another pawn to his chessboard

There seems no stopping Andre Villas-Boas and his rebuilding plans at Chelsea, as the arrival of Gary Cahill is likely to be the first of many through the revolving door.

However, the manager's policy of squad rotation and the disposal of several experienced heads from the team has made for an uncertain state of affairs - almost as much so as David Luiz's defending.
The ruthless style exhibited by the 34-year-old gaffer sees the Brazilian stopper likely to become the sacrificial lamb, while Frank Lampard remains in the cold despite his recent goalscoring form.

But chairman Roman Abramovich has come up with a solution - treat the game as a chess board!

Enter Ashley Cole as the queen, John Terry as the king and an unhappy Lampard as a ... rook? Told you it was confusing - and that's not even taking into account the conundrum involving Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres. 

Sunday, April 10, 2011