Fernando Torres brought the curtain down on his illustrious 18-year playing career on Friday. The Spanish striker, 35, played the full 90 minutes for Sagan Tosu against Vissel Kobe in Japan’s J-League. However, it wasn’t the fairytale ending that Torres will have been hoping for prior to kick-off.
Sagan Tosu found themselves 3-0 down inside 22 minutes – with Andres Iniesta scoring a penalty for the visitors – and went on to lose the match 6-1.
Sagan Tosu’s only goal was a Thomas Vermaelen own goal in the 79th minute. Not the finish that Torres would have dreamt off, it’s fair to say, although his send-off from everybody inside the Ekimae Real Estate Stadium after the final whistle was spine-tingling. Torres, standing alongside his children Nora and Leo, stood in front of one of the stands as the fans all expressed their appreciation towards one of the greatest strikers of his generation. Respect to the fans for giving Torres such a memorable send-off, despite watching their team lose so heavily.
It was also lovely that Iniesta, one of Torres’ closest friends in football, was present to share the moment with the former Liverpool and Chelsea forward.
The former international teammates embraced before and after the match.
Another ex-Spain international, David Villa, also came on for Vissel Kobe to make Torres’ final match in professional football extra special. “It’s very strange, I’d say beautifully strange. Here we both are, about to play your last game as a professional,” Iniesta wrote in an open letter to Torres before Friday’s fixture.
