The same habits as always. And the same mindset, as strong as overwhelming. This is how Ferran Torres faced this World Cup. And, like Andrés Iniesta was in 2010, he became the hero of the final against Argentina by scoring the goal that allowed Spain to win the second star in its history.
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The goal that decided the World Cup came after a tournament in which Ferran was a substitute in seven of the eight matches. He was only a starter in the debut against Cape Verde, when Lamine Yamal was still not available from the start due to his injury. Luis de la Fuente, a coach who has always emphasized the importance of the bench, gave him a decisive role as a game-changer and once again called on him from the bench. Ferran, capable of performing in any attacking position, replaced Mikel Oyarzabal. The rest is history.
“In the end, the goal belonged to 47 million people. It was not mine nor the 26 players’. Destiny was written and it was meant for us to win far from our people,” he said on the field on TVE. And he admitted that the goal meant “a great release.” “I have been a very criticized person throughout the World Cup, but I believe destiny is written. Thank God it always gives me that strength to continue and, in the end, as I say, God gives things to those who deserve it most,” he insisted.
I have been a very criticized person throughout the World Cup, but I believe destiny is written. Thank God it always gives me that strength to continue and, in the end, as I say, God gives things to those who deserve it most”
In the stands, his family applauded. There were his parents, Fernando Torres, an electrician from Foios affectionately known as ‘Cucala’, and María García, who gave him his first football boots. His sister Arantxa, six years older than him and with whom he has a very special connection, was also there. She has been one of his great pillars, especially since his parents separated when Ferran was five years old. At that time, he entered the Valencia school residence in Paterna, a few kilometers from his hometown of Foios. Years later, Ferran tattooed an anchor with the phrase I refuse to sink together with his sister and cousin Adrián.
That was not the only bump in his career. At the beginning of 2023, the Barça forward confessed that, after the Qatar World Cup, he fell emotionally. He explained it in an informal meeting with the press in Barcelona: “I fell into a bottomless pit, I didn’t know how to get out. I had never broken down so much.”
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For months he attended therapy several times a week to improve his mood and return to performing at his best on the pitch. He had entered a negative spiral that prevented him from showing the level that had always been expected of him. He was fully aware of the enormous effort Barça made to sign him: 55 million euros to Manchester City, plus another ten in variables, in the winter market of the 2021-22 season, after the abrupt departure of Leo Messi. Therapy remains part of his routine and he has never hidden the importance it has had in breaking the taboo of mental health.
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Pets, another of his weaknesses
Ferran is also passionate about dogs. Together with his sister, he adopted Minni, an Andalusian podenco, in Foios. Later came Lluna, a Czechoslovakian wolfdog. Both passed away this season. Today he continues to share his life with Milo, a street dog he adopted thanks to his collaboration with the charity Wild at Heart, which promotes the adoption of abandoned animals. With Milo he lived in Manchester and now in Barcelona, a city where he will also have to sit down to talk about his future.
The forward’s contract ends next year and Barcelona wants to renew his link. Ferran has received interest from PSG of Luis Enrique, a coach who knows him perfectly from his time leading the Spanish national team and with whom he played the Qatar World Cup. At the club, however, they say they have not received any communication from the player’s environment that suggests a departure and they maintain their full willingness to extend his contract.
Moreover, Ferran is one of the most beloved players in the Barça dressing room. Pedri, Dani Olmo, Alejandro Balde, and Lamine Yamal are part of his closest circle, especially the Canarian midfielder, with whom he also shares an agent. They all supported him when he went through one of his worst goal droughts. Against Espanyol, in his 201st match with Barcelona, he broke a 14-game scoring drought. Still, he closed the season with 21 goals in 49 matches, 16 of them in LaLiga. Numbers that endorse his performance. All in the summer in which Robert Lewandowski also left.
Just a few weeks ago, in the club’s offices, it was planned to postpone the negotiation of his renewal, presumably until September, due to salary cap issues. The contract extension would require Barcelona to pay seven million euros to Manchester City under a clause included in his 2021 transfer. The intention was to wait to know the financial margin before addressing the operation.
But that was before Ferran scored the goal that gave Spain a World Cup. The agents are still waiting for news. At no time have there been conversations. Yes, the interest of PSG. But first, and above all, the World Cup must be celebrated.
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