Liverpool FC Forum

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Torres & Reina interview (nicked off TLW who nicked it off RAOTL who nicked it off RAWK):

Pepe Reina: Fernando, we met in the sub-21 selection, no?

Fernando Torres: Yes Pepe, why didn’t I see you in the sub-18? . . . They wouldn’t give you the ball? (laughs)

PR: No, machine, it’s because when you were in the sub-18 I was already in the sub-21. (laughs)

FT: I arrived a few years later . . .

PR: I was there with Aranzubia, Yeste, Colsa, Orbaiz, Coira . . . I was there four years, the last two with you. But by then you had already debuted with Atletico and they were talking a lot about you. Your talent was breaking through and we could see that you were going to succeed, like you’re doing now.

FT: I remember that you were already in the selection, you were the captain. I arrived new and I saw that there were veteran players like you and that’s who you focus on.

PR: In the selection I didn’t get to know you well. It’s been in Liverpool that I’ve gotten to know you. You were shy, you didn’t even speak up because you didn’t want to bother anyone . . . (laughs) But when I met you I realized that you weren’t like that, that with your own (teammates) you give your all and you aren’t distant.

FT: In the end you always create more bonds in a club than in the selection. When you practice [w/the selection] you tend to go with the people you knew from before or who are in your club, plus, you don’t spend as much time with them. On the other hand, in the team environment, you know each other more, even though you don’t always get to know everyone really well.

PR: Today there are many players in many places, so its difficult to become a close friend with someone.

FT: Yes, the circumstances have to coincide. If you and I had coincided in a Spanish team, with people we were closer to around us, we wouldn’t have developed such a good friendship. Here you arrive in a new country and you need the support of your people. Afterwards, if there’s a good understanding, everything else will develop.

PR: We’re lucky to live 50 meters from each other, being two Spaniards in another country . . . I was lucky too with Morientes, and at Barcelona Abelardo helped me out. He made everything that much easier. It was easier to feel at ease. And that’s what I try to do when someone new arrives, offer the same help. Everything has been easier for you because of what you’re like.

FT: Thanks Pepe (laughs). When you arrive somewhere new you have to learn. On top of that if you arrive in a different country, with different money, another climate, where you have to find a house in which to live, and to be comfortable . . . I know I can depend on you for anything. And that’s noticeable on the field. When you think only on playing football, without having your mind somewhere else, it’s appreciated. Here there are huge expectations. They demand that you win every Sunday and you can’t waste time looking for a house and moving in.

PR: But you’ve done a lot to adapt. There are people who don’t accept help. If both sides don’t put in an effort, it’s impossible. With you everything has been easy.

FT: I’ve always thought that if you want to receive you have to give. You know what place you occupy when you are newly arrived and if you come with a desire to learn and to accept advice. In the Liverpool locker room we all want the same thing, we come to contribute and do our part to reach our objectives. It’s a professional environment.

PR: It also helps that we like the same things.

FT: Yes, we both like to spend time at home and watch matches, movies, television programs . . .

PR: Our taste in movies is different. If it’s not based on reality or realistic, you don’t like them.

FT: Well no. I only like movies on things that can actually happen, that are realistic. The same thing happens to you with videogames, you don’t like them because you’d rather practice the actual sports, like golf or tennis, before playing them on the screen. You like games that center on cars, but not much else. At least Arteta comes over every once in a while, he plays really well.

PR: Okay, only realistic things . . . Like is it a true story they tell that you started off as a keeper? (laughs)

FT: Is something wrong? (laughs)

PR: No, its fine. I’ve always been a keeper. The normal thing is that as a kid you like to kick the ball, run and score goals. But then you keep reversing depending on your quality and I ended up behind everything. Plus, I carry it in the genes. It was inevitable.

FT: I wanted to be a keeper, like my brother, and I ended up a striker. But I would have been a great keeper.

PR: Oh really? Well we should give you a test. I need to know which player would be the best if I had to choose one on the field. Xabi Alonso and Riise are great keepers. If you want, we can test you . . .

FT: I wait impatiently to be tested.

PR: As long as you’re as good a keeper as you are a striker . . . Not even the most optimistic person would think you’d already have 30 goals. It’s difficult to net 30 goals in your first year outside of your county in a league like the Premier league. You’re more than fulfilling the expectations.

FT: I came here with all the desire in the world to succeed, it was a challenge for me and I knew that there would be expectations. Luckily everything has gone well since the beginning, my teammates have helped me a lot and in a way I feel like I owe you. You have to demonstrate that in training and in the matches.

PR: It’s what’s expected. Dedication. Here the supporters are more important than results. The only thing they ask of you is that you leave your skin to defend the shirt. And if in addition the result is positive, even better. But if its negative you’ll see them singing “You’ll never walk alone” at the 90th minute.

FT: These supporters animate the team, eleven players in red, it doesn’t matter the names. Then they celebrate the names, because they have big players, but Liverpool is Liverpool. They support the team, even when things go badly they’re with you till the death, no matter who’s playing. It’s different from Spain. For supporters of Liverpool, they all deserve it because you give it your all, it’s the only thing they ask. It leaves a mark on you.

PR: It’s another way to understand football. We have to respect both ways, but if I can choose, I’d choose this one.

FT: The way you’re treated off the field is also different. You can go out calmly, to dinner or shopping, people don’t crowd you.

PR: Once we went out to eat at a restaurant and a girl spotted us but didn’t say anything. Do you remember? When we left an hour and a half later, she was on the street, freezing, wating for us to sign a shirt. They’re very respectful.

FT: Having time to dedicate to your private life is noticeable on the field. You’re relaxed, you’re not anxious. They ask for things, but with respect. They know to respect your space and to be in the moment. They don’t interrupt you. There’s no money that could pay for that.

PR: Talking about going out, we’re supposed to go bowling . . .

FT: That’s true! But we don’t go out because we’re lazy. We’re more likely to go out when people come to visit, but in the end we always stay home. We barbeque.

PR: Yes, barbeques in the garden when its six degrees. I have never seen anything like it.

FT: One day a ray of sun came out and we decided to barbeque. It ended up snowing. We have pictures of the grill with snow on it.

PR: The weather is changeable.

FT: But when it gets bad we take out the boardgames.

PR: Yes, we do a battle of the sexes. We cheat a lot more than they do. Well, we’re more obvious. (laughs)

FT: Yes (laughs). We’re tied. It’s really competitive and if we can, we resort to cheating. There have been great battles.

PR: The point is you try to be correct in all situations, at home and on the field. You succeed.

FT: I try to hang back so that I don’t end up with my foot in my mouth, but I remember a story from Hong Kong. When you arrive you realize that you don’t know any English, but once you’ve been learning for a few weeks, you think you have a handle on it. So, when we arrived in Hong Kong we were dead tired and the trainer talked to us in the hotel kitchen about the plans for the day . . .

PR: You didn’t understand anything! I asked you and you said that there would be no training because they had lost the luggage . . . You got nothing right!

FT: Yes, that’s when I came down. That’s what I thought I heard and it turns out there was training first and then sleep. Afterward we were to eat and pick up our clothes. You know, the usual. It’s a good thing you helped me out or else I would have just gone to sleep.

PR: You’ve adapted well . . . even with your questionable cinematic tastes . . . (Laughs) If we can watch movies and series . . it’s the only thing you have no idea about. But there are as many tastes as there are colors. But you’re a guy that when you open up to people you’re all heart and you give your all. You can seem serious or cold, but you’re the opposite, funny and affectionate.

FT: Well, you’re a cheater, but that’s not the worst part, the worst part is that its obvious! (Laughs) You’re different than I am, in terms of externalizing things, they way you present yourself is what I’m missing. You’re the first to try to cheer people up, you transmit positive energy. The other day when Adebayor tied it up in the Champions league there was an image of you picking up Skertl and encouraging him. I was frozen in the center of the field. That comes from within. There aren’t many people like that.

PR: In that we’re different, but in our way of thinking and our personal values we’re very similar and that’s why we connect. I always try to be positive and be in a good mood, create a good atmosphere. That’s something my father taught me. Sometimes within football, it’s all that’s left: the good times and the stories you can take with you. Plus, here you’re very comfortable, you only miss the weather, the sun.


FT: I don’t miss the weather. Maybe only my people (friends and family), even though they come to visit and the distance isn’t great. It’s only a two hour flight.

PR: You’re right. On big nights like the Champions league, like playing against Arsenal at Anfield, you’d want to have more people at home to celebrate it.

FT: If we win the Champions league we’ll have time to celebrate like you’re supposed to.

PR: We’ll see how the semifinals go. I’ve already played a final and we lost. Afterwards no one remembers those in second place, but my father said that to lose a final you have to play it. It’s a Champions final! If we beat Chelsea and we go on, you’ll see, it’ll be a great achievement, like they say here. Impressive.

FT: Last year I saw the Istanbul final and I suffered like everyone else. I had no idea that I would play here the following year and now I enjoy every Champions league match like if it’s the final.

PR: I know, you almost start dancing when you hear the Champions league song. You still feel the sting of the Intertoto that we won at the Calderon.

FT: The one we lost 2-0 in Villareal and that you won at the Calderon on penalties.

PR: That’s where I made it hard for you. In the return match we were losing 2-0 in Madrid, you were playing a great match and you got a penalty. You were on the ground and I pressured the referee to get you assistance so you wouldn’t take the penalty. (Laughs)

FT: See how you’re a cheater? (Laughs)

PR: Our friend Jorge Larena took the penalty and I stopped it. At the end we won the match on penalties.

FT: I remember that I didn’t take a penalty at the end either because I was fifth to take it, but the funny thing was that you were fifth to take the penalty for Villareal!

PR: We were lucky that day.

FT: True, because in other matches I had beaten you on goal a few times. I did well against Barcelona and Villareal.

PR: That’s water under the bridge. The point is that now we’re together in Liverpool and we can still win the Champions league. Liverpool has gotten to semifinals three times in four years and has played two finals in three years. It’s an achievement that we should be happy and proud about.

FT: It has a lot of merit. No we have the opportunity to get to Moscow and try to win it. It would be incredible to raise the sixth for Liverpool.
___

Torres interview on ESPN (Speaks very good English)

[red37]

Good article. Some funny interplay between the pair.

[metalhead]

loved the way Torres labeled Reina a cheater 

[Seano Kop]

Absolutely Lovett. Great interview on ESPN (speaks fantastic English, already better than Nadal's!!)  and he has great insight.

[Toffeehater]

good interview , cheers saint

[WhIpLaSh]

Thanks s@int. Great to get an insight into the player's different personalities.

[sworth26]

FT: Last year I saw the Istanbul final and I suffered like everyone else. I had no idea that I would play here the following year and now I enjoy every Champions league match like if it’s the final.



I am sure he is talking about Athens but I'll let him off!!!!!

[Sabre]

Great read

[clarke90]

Classic.
The help of Renia must have helped him settle in britain as easy as he did, meaning torres was able to concentrate on getting us goals. Pepe deserves is own song by now.

[dawson99]

genius post saint, best read ive had in ages!!!

[Seano Kop]

You know.... I've never heard Reina speak.. So I've heard Torres speak English before Reina and Torres only arrived in an English speaking country last year