'The man who changed Spanish football': Torres pays moving tribute to Aragones



Fernando Torres has paid a moving tribute to his former Atletico Madrid and Spain coach Luis Aragones, who died aged 75 on Saturday, suggesting that it was advice from the ‘wise old man of Hortaleza’ that pushed him to make a success of his career.

Torres wrote in El Mundo: 'When you are a young boy starting out you think that you can acheive everything but I saw so many kids with more ability than me fall by the wayside.



'That is part of the learning process and it intensifies when you become a professional at 17 and you realise that the football you have known has nothing to do with the professional game. That is when Luis appeared in my life.

Guidance: Fernando Torres says that Luis Aragones was like a teacher who helped him develop as a footballer

'Aragones was my teacher, the one who kept my feet on the ground and put the brakes on my ambition until I was ready for the next step.

'He would say to me everyday: "Kid, you know nothing about nothing," and I came to realise that he did that because he was preparing me for the future and because he believed in me.'

Torres came through the Atletico Madrid youth team with Aragones in charge and the two would be reunited at international level.

The Chelsea striker wrote: 'He did with the Spain team what he had previously done with me; he brought us down from the clouds and told us: "There is no room for egos. Until you are a team, then you are not going to be better than anybody".'

Respect: Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas (left), Carles Puyol (centre) and Xavi arrive at the funeral of Luis Aragones

Good times: Luis Aragones and his Spain side celebrate after beating Germany to win Euro 2008

Torres admits that the path to glory at Euro 2008 was a rocky one with setbacks for both the coach and the players. But that Aragones 'created a bubble' in which the players were protected from all the pressure and the criticism.

'His strategy had a happy ending' wrote Torres, who scored as Spain beat Germany 1-0 in the final. 'He ended up making history as the man who changed Spanish football; who made us, dream, fight, believe in ourselves, and win. "Win, win, win" as we would shout before every game all with our hands on the ball.