Ferran Torres: “Criticism is part of football and makes us more plugged in”

He does not forget when he started playing futsal on concrete at the Epla. Then he already had a lot of goal, as he is showing with the Selection scoring 8 goals in their first 15 games with the absolute. Ferran Torres (Foyos, Valencia, 2000) He admits that he gets emotional when he hears the Spanish anthem before the matches and he cannot imagine the joy it would be to be champion with the National Team.

How does it feel to be left off the Olympics roster?

For me it was a unique opportunity. Every gamer dreams of playing the Olympics once. There is no time to lament, you have to be focused here on the Eurocup and face the game in Switzerland with the utmost enthusiasm.

Would you have liked the club to have let you go or do you not want controversy?

I have not argued. I have to conform. It is true that a player needs a vacation because the seasons are long and you need to disconnect. We are experiencing a very beautiful, very intense European Championship and the holidays will come.

Ferran is showing that he has the goal in his blood and is helping the National Team.

I have scored eight goals for the national team in the first 15 games and I am very happy above all to help the team, which is the most important thing and I hope that I can continue scoring many more goals with Spain for many years to come.

What is the goal they have in mind?

We are very calm that we are working very well. The group that has been made is a very good human group and we go game by game, but we are a team that likes to dream.

How did you receive the criticism after the first two draws?

Criticism is part of football and you have to know how to live with it, both when it is good and when it is bad. You have to know how to isolate yourself so as not to depend on criticism and enter a well from which you cannot see the exit. The team reacted very well, we didn't get the victory in the first two games, but we did a good job, two good games. We must continue working to continue on this path.

The criticisms are harsher because Spain is the team of Spanish journalists.

It is clear! And the Spanish National Team is one of the best in the world and must always be at the top. We live with it and that makes us more plugged in.

Spain gets 1-3 and in five minutes they tie Croatia, what was going through your head?

I was on the bench and I didn't know how to get on, where to sit. I was in the field with 2-3 and we knew they were going to tighten in the last minutes and when I saw 3-3 come in, you fell a little down. There is no time and right away you have to cheer on the teammates and they showed their faces in an incredible way and we must congratulate everyone.

He is a winger with a lot of goals, do you like to play as a nine as you have done this season on some occasion?

This year has been a very learning one for me. With Pep I have learned to play nine and even Luis Enrique has put me there in a game as well. Before it was one more extreme of being open, of facing one against one and the bottom line. Football changes, the player changes and now I like to be close to the goal because when you score it is a unique sensation and I have seen that I am good at being there.

What players do you focus on to learn?

My reference has been Villa, when I joined Valencia it was the time that Villa, Silva and Mata were there. I have not had the luck to coincide with Silva at City but they have been my references, key for me. I also remember the World Cup that Villa did in 2010. He also played band despite being a forward and I have paid attention to him a lot.

Now he does less one against one because he is more aware of attacking the space to look for the goal …

It is true that before I faced more, but it is that the rivals usually close us more. Many times I look for my back to stretch the team, not just to get the ball to land on me. But in the end it is to adapt to the game you are playing.

Luis Enrique gives you the utmost confidence, what did you feel when he took you out of the eleven against Poland?

We are 24 players and anyone can play. The coach from the first day gave me a confidence that I did not believe, and in the end you have to take advantage of it because in Spain there are very good players and confidence is very high. But when you don't give your maximum level, there are players who can play ahead of you. I was calm, supporting the team like the most and when he gave me the opportunity again, I tried to take advantage of it.

No player is happy as a substitute!

It is clear! All players want to play, but here you don't have to have egos. You have to help because it is a Eurocup and who doesn't want to win a Eurocup as a starter or substitute?

That message that there are no headlines or substitutes has really penetrated. Thiago is an example, he has not started in a game and he supports to the fullest.

That is very important when you see that someone is on the bench and is not playing and is supporting you as the one you value the most because you value him the most. And the coach gives all the players a chance.

Winning a tie by receiving three goals is very difficult, was it the product of your youth?

We are a very young team and we have veteran people, who are already experts and have won everything. That youth and that inexperience is also a good thing because of that hunger that we can transmit of wanting to win things. The match against Croatia was a crazy match in which the rival also plays. But we knew how to react, which is something very important, to react to a 3-1 tie to three, you can fall apart, but we showed that we are strong both mentally and physically.

In the corners he could go in to finish more …

We have players who go very well to the auction. I like to go in to finish off because I usually fall. I have not yet had the luck to put a corner, to see if it arrives and I will remember you.

How are Guardiola and Luis Enrique alike and different?

They are very similar coaches. They had a career at Barcelona and they have a very clear and very similar idea that involves having the ball, grouping the rival in the opposite field and above all that pressure after loss that characterizes us so much.

And how are they different?

So a priori, there are not so many differences. The National Team is more about touch, although against Croatia we abused the long ball when they pressed us up.

Are you excited to think that in Valencia they burn gunpowder every time Ferran scores with the National Team?

Obviously. For me Valencia is everything, it has given me everything. I hope I can come back in the future, because I feel like it's my home. I am happy that they are proud. I like it to be like in the Fallas.

Would you like to be the Ninot Indultat of this European Championship?

I signed it already.

Those of you who have come from City have not played much this year, especially Eric and Laporte, can that benefit Spain because you are fresher?

We have not been lucky enough to play so much, except for Rodri who is the one who has played the most. It gives you a little bit of being fresh, but in the end the seasons are very difficult, they are very hard, because you can play or not, but you have to be mentally strong because football is very screwed up. We are here with the chip of the National Team, in a quarter-final against Switzerland and in the end you do not notice the fatigue or anything.

When you play for Spain, do you ever think that the whole country is following you? Is it a big responsibility, is it an emotion?

Especially when I'm listening to the anthem and thinking that a whole country is listening to the anthem there with you, look (points to his arm), I'm getting goose bumps because there is no more beautiful feeling than that.

Winning a title with Spain would bring great joy to the whole country.

I cannot imagine it, I am not aware of what it would be like to win a title with the National Team, it would be the best for me. We are very young people and it will continue to motivate us to continue doing great things.

Yes you can!

I think so! We have a very young team, but ambitious, hungry.

And the union that exists is key too.

The union is a fundamental piece. Before starting the Eurocup we had hard blows, a positive from Busquets, a false positive from Diego Llorente. The first two of us wanted to win and when you don't win, you see things differently. That has made us stronger and made us score five against Slovakia and against Croatia we were able to face the difficulties after drawing at three. Thanks to that we are the team that we are.

What do you know about Switzerland?

At the beginning of the season we already faced them in the Nations League and they were two really difficult games because they like to push, they like to make it difficult. It is going to be a difficult match.

Shaqiri is square and performs in the final stages, who else stands out?

I really like Freuler, he has shown it at Atalanta, I played against him in the round of 16 with Valencia. Likewise, Switzerland does not have a team with such a name, but collectively they have already shown that they can beat any team.

A European Championship is running out of favorites. Germany, Portugal, Holland, France are out.

That shows you that you can't relax, that any team makes things difficult for you and everyone wants to win the European Championship. Football is becoming more difficult, more physical.

Are you bringing your family to the rooms?

I was watching. My father did make it to eighths.

You have to bring your sister to St. Petersburg!

I'm on it. I am convincing my sister because the poor thing works as a receptionist in a dentist. I have to convince her to be here with our dog (and she shows a dog tattoo on her left arm). This was the first dog we had, Rex, who died a couple of years ago. And now we have two magnificent dogs Mini and Yuna. I hope my sister Arancha can come.