Fernando Torres spoke to the press at the Spain national team’s headquarters in Potchefstroom. The striker, who was joined in the news conference by Raul Albiol, hopes to help his side to maximum points against Honduras on Monday night. “I have been training at the same pace as my team mates for two weeks now, putting the injury behind me so that I can be available for the coach. We are all ready to take to the pitch and give our all and if I am in the starting 11 then great but if not I will wait for my chance to help the side.”

The kid looked back over the Swiss defeat. “We created chances to score but failed to put them away. That was the key. It was a bit like our semifinal defeat in the Confederations Cup at the hands of the USA all over again. We conceded very few chances, and had we have grabbed a goal, it would have been a very different story.”

The striker is confident that Spain’s style of play will pay off as the tournament draws on. “It’s important for us to remain faithful to our playing style, not go mad and change things around too much and trust in what has made us one of the favourites. Spain always wants possession of the ball and we have to exploit the talents that our players have, beyond any particular system. The style of this team is marked out by the midfielders, who are our heart and soul.”

Torres believes that Spain will have to play a patient game when they face Honduras in their second group match. “We can’t let anxiety creep into our play if we fail to score early on. Honduras will get plenty of players behind the ball and look to hit us on the break. A draw isn’t enough for them, so they will probably leave some open spaces where we can attack them.”

As for the World Cup, the Liverpool marksman feels that the tournament is living up to expectations. “We have seen how anything is possible at the World Cup. Any team can win and the matches have all been very disputed with no easy opponents.”

The Spain number ‘9’ has been his team’s most popular member since arriving in South Africa. Torres, who regularly stops for fans signing autographs and posing for photographs, believes that playing for Liverpool has helped raise his popularity in Africa. “Liverpool has a lot of fans around the world, which is why we have felt popular and well-supported. South Africa look like they are struggling to get through the group phase and if they get eliminated hopefully the fans here will support Spain instead.”

Photo: J.A. Sirvent