Fernando Torres leads the race for the Golden Boot and the Castrol Best Player Index after the opening round of matches. With all eight teams having played their first group game, the striker tops the goal charts following his hat-trick against New Zealand, and heads the performance league with 9.88 points.

On his debut at the Confederations Cup, the striker scored three goals in an 11-minute period, breaking two national records and also hitting the quickest hat-trick in the history of the tournament.

Torres’ closest challenger for the Castrol Best Player award is Italy and Villareal forward Giuseppe Rossi. The Azzuri striker scored two goals in his country’s 3-1 win over USA.

Castrol’s Ambassador at the Confederations Cup, ex-England striker Alan Shearer, praised Torres after his performace against New Zealand. “On form, he’s in the top two or three strikers in the world for me. He’s got skill and bags of pace and reads the game brilliantly. He would be my tip for player of the tournament.”

The Spain number ‘9’, the only player to have scored a treble so far in the touranment, leads Rossi, Kaka and Mohamed Zidan, by one strike.

Fernando’s explosive start comes as no surprise as the striker also led the goal charts after the first two group matches at the 2006 World Cup. The forward however was rested in Spain’s group game against Saudi Arabia, which coupled with their exit at the quarter-final stage at the hands of France, left Torres out of the running for top scorer.

The striker, who was also selected in the best eleven for Match Day 1, has been overwhelmed by the warm welcome he’s received from the moment he arrived in South Africa. “This is what you get when you play for a club like Liverpool. The club has fans across every continent and there are no limits as to how widespread they are. You come across fans wearing a shirt with your name on the back in the most unlikely places. I would personally like to thank them, and I hope to give them plenty of enjoyment.”