Fernando Torres insists he is not a traitor after Chelsea’s £50 million (US$77.4 million) striker was accused of betraying Liverpool.
Torres is set to make an emotionally-charged Chelsea debut against his former club today just a week after completing his controversial British record transfer from Liverpool.
Reds boss Kenny Dalglish admitted he was disappointed by the timing of Torres’ move, which was finalized just hours before the close of the transfer window.
Torres has been well below his best for much of this season and handed in a transfer request in an attempt to force through the move once he became aware of Chelsea’s interest, prompting some fans and former players to claim the Spaniard had been sulking for months.
However, Torres is adamant he was always completely dedicated to the Liverpool cause and he slammed those who criticized the way he left Anfield.
“I think it is not fair. It makes no sense. I played three very good seasons there and scored lots of goals,” Torres said. “I understand it was a difficult situation, especially in the transfer window, but I have to think about my career.”
“Everyone will see it is a step forward. I know the plans Chelsea have for the future, the ambition they have and what they want to achieve,” he said. “They want to build a great team and keep competing with Man Utd and Man City to be the best club in England and to fight for the Champions League.”
“When I will be 45 I would like to look back and say I am really lucky to have this picture of me as a champion,” Torres said. “I explained my feelings and was honest with everyone.”
“Obviously they didn’t want me to leave, they tried to persuade me to stay but I told them I had made my decision,” he said.
During his time at Liverpool, Torres had appeared totally devoted to the Reds and even said he would never play for another English club.
That pledge was swiftly consigned to history once Liverpool began to struggle and Chelsea came calling, but Torres insists he has never been the badge-kissing type who takes the plaudits then walks out when the going gets tough.
However, he felt Liverpool’s decline had been too steep over the last 18 months, with the departures of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano convincing Torres the club lacked ambition.
“I never kissed the Liverpool badge,” Torres said. “When I was born in Madrid I wasn’t a Liverpool or Chelsea fan. I’m an Atletico fan, maybe that is the only badge I would kiss.”
“People were talking about Liverpool winning the title or getting back in the top four but I could see from the beginning of the season that we would struggle,” he said. “When you have a chance to play for a team who can win the Champions League and Premier League and compete with the best then you have to take the chance.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but