Ask Fernando Torres to name his heroes and one of the first men he will mention will be Carlos Matallanas, a former lower league footballer in Spain who has since become a tactics analyst for second division side Fuenlabrada and a respected sports journalist.

Fuenlabrada play in the 6,000-capacity 'Fernando Torres Stadium' named after the town's most famous son. They are currently fifth and if they win promotion to the first division for the first time in their history all the talk will be of having 'overcome the odds' and of their 'super-human' effort but Torres knows we over-use those words in football. It's his friend Carlos they really apply to.

Matallanas has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as motor neurone disease [MND]. It's the same condition that Leeds Rhinos legend Rob Burrow has recently been diagnosed with and the same condition former Scotland rugby union international Doddie Weir has been living with since 2016.

Carlos Matallanas continues to excel as a tactics analyst and journalist despite having MND

Matallanas was diagnosed with motor neurone disease back in May 2014, aged 33

As a footballer, Matallanas (left) played 330 games during 14 seasons in Spain's lower leagues

Spain 2010 World Cup winner Fernando Torres (centre) names him as one of his heroes

Matallanas played 330 games during 14 seasons that included a spell in Spain's fourth tier at both Rayo Majadahonda and Racing Club Portuense. His tactical acumen, and his ability to express himself well, meant retirement held no fears - he would go into coaching or the media.

But in 2013 he had some routine dental work and he started to notice he was having speech difficulties. At first he put it down to the anesthetic used in the wisdom teeth extraction, but it persisted. He had various neurological tests that ruled out lesser problems and in May 2014, as the loss of control began to spread to some of the muscles in his arms and legs, he was diagnosed with MND aged just 33. He was told most sufferers of the disease died within five years of its onset. He's proud to have now gone past that point.

Matallanas wrote in an explanatory article to the readers of his regular column on the website 'El Confidential' in the October of that year: 'It's a disease whose development is very cruel, paralyzing the patient bit by bit, taking away his capacity to communicate and finally his ability to breathe. All the while keeping his intellect in tact so that he is completely conscious of the deterioration and his death.'

Remarkably that 'El Confidencial' column was also written with positivity and even humour. He joked: 'By the way, a word to the worried: Doctors continue to think that there is no connection between going to the dentist and my disease.' He also said: 'Instead of provoking a sense of fear, assimilating my new reality awoke in me the need to make the most of all my time.'

He continues to write his weekly articles for Diario AS with a special computer that responds to him blinking his eye-lids. He writes his tactical analysis reports for Fuenlabrada the same way.

Football had been his life, and he decided from the moment of diagnosis that it would continue to be that way. His columns in Diario AS have become must-reads and one praising Spain striker Jaime Mata for making it into the Spain squad aged 30 after a career in the lower leagues prompted a response from the player: 'It is you who is extraordinary - you are an example of never giving up.'

He continues to write his weekly articles for Diario AS with a special computer that responds to him blinking his eye-lids

Matallanas is currently a tactics analyst for second division side Fuenlabrada - they sit fifth in Spain's second tier and are seeking promotion to LaLiga for the first time in their history

Carlos told Sportsmail: 'When I first started experiencing the symptoms of my illness I was taking my first coaching badges because I knew that was what I wanted to do after retiring.

'Despite the illness I can still watch football, write articles for Diario AS and I have a role as part of the coaching staff at Fuenlabrada. I have to organise myself properly because I have less time during the day than a healthy person but with patience I can write about our next rivals and our current form using my eyes and a special computer, and I pass the notes to Mere, who coaches Fuenlabrada and trained me in the third division some years ago.'

Explaining his enduring friendship with Torres he says: 'My little brother played youth football at Atletico Madrid alongside Fernando. They became friends and so our families became friends too. I am three years older than them. When we got older I started spending more time with Fernando during his first years as a professional.

'Since my diagnosis Fernando has always asked my brothers how I was getting on. I live in Cadiz, not in Madrid, but we WhatsApp each other from time to time. He is the patron of Fundela, an association for the promotion of investigation into this disease. Everything he can do to help, he will do.'

Before Matallanas lost the use of his limbs he interviewed Torres in 2015. He had already lost the use of his voice but he was able to type the questions and answers for his brother Gonzalo to read them out.

He teased out of Torres that of all his team-mates at all his different clubs Steven Gerrard was the most important, telling Carlos that he knew he would never find another quite like him.

The interview is more a conversation between two players about their football memories and when Torres is asked about his heroes he picks Carlos, the fourth division player whose love of football continues to give him the life force to go on living and being productive.

There is even a passion for the Premier League. He says: 'I've loved English football since the start of the nineties long before it was so common to watch other leagues in Spain. And I was a Liverpool fan before Fernando became a red. The disappointment of him leaving Atletico was lessened by him going to a team that I liked a lot. I went to see him at Anfield in 2008.'

In that column back in 2014 when he first explained his condition to his readers Matallanas wrote: 'Many of you will be aware of this disease thanks to the ice-bucket challenge that became popular this summer between famous people across the world. It's fair to say that this served to raise awareness of the problem, but it is still a long way from being understood.

'It's like catching a criminal, in order to hunt it down we need to investigate. And before the financial aspect it's important that there is a desire to prioritise the problem. As for me [If in the end it is also my fate to lose my battle against this disease] the fewest doubts about what has happened to me I leave behind the more satisfied I will be. Simply because it will mean we are closer to the day when no-one has to die in such an absurd and incomprehensible way.'