Fernando Torres

Position: Forward
Born: 20.04.84
Club: Atletico Madrid

While Raul is still regarded as the king of Spanish football, there is little doubt that Fernando Torres is the pretender to the throne.

Blessed with wonderful control and an unerring sense for goal, Torres stands apart from the crowd for more than his shock of blonde hair.

Good in the air, fleet of foot and intelligent off the ball, Torres has the ability to threaten the best of defences at the World Cup.

As a teenager his exploits for Spain's junior sides quickly brought him to the attention of a national audience and the striker has been exceeding expectations ever since.

In 2001 Torres was part of the Spain Under-16 team that won the European Championship and was voted Player of the Tournament after topping the scoring charts.

A year later he repeated all three achievements at Under-19 level and by then Torres had been involved with Atletico's first team for two years, becoming the club's youngest ever goalscorer.

Upon the capital club's return to the Primera Liga in 2002/2003, Torres furthered his reputation with 13 goals that helped Atletico avoid relegation.

The striker earned his first full cap for Spain in 2004 and his 20 goals in La Liga earned him a place in the European Championship squad.

Torres played a part in all three games in Portugal but the familiar story of an underachieving Spain side proved a rude awakening to a player who had never previously failed in national colours.

More impressive seasons for Atletico followed with the striker contributing an impressive seven goals to Spain's qualifying campaign for the World Cup.

Torres has been a loyal servant to Atletico since he joined the club as a boy but an explosive World Cup will almost certainly result in an almighty bidding war for the one of Spain's brightest stars.