Ferran Torres was a very well-known footballer. Now he is a global star. A few days ago, fed up with an endless schedule, he left the hotel in New York and went for a walk with Vicent, his best friend, through Central Park. Runners saw him, recognized him, and stopped to say, ‘You are the guy!”. The scorer of the goal that made Spain world champion at MetLife is living a hectic life before returning to being a footballer on Wednesday, the day he will join Barcelona’s squad, if Paris Saint Germain does not prevent it.
Before dusting off his boots, he had time to celebrate the title in Madrid, to enjoy the most popular summer vacation in Ibiza with Marcos Llorente, to do a brief tour of the United States with his sponsor, Under Armour, and to return to his hometown, Foios, already elevated to the status of hero. In this small Valencian town in L’Horta Nord, he took a bath of crowds before thousands of people who did not mind the overwhelming heat.
The Xiquet de Foios landed in Madrid in the morning and quickly took a private plane to arrive on time for his meeting with the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Juanfran Pérez Llorca. There, at the Palau de la Generalitat, it was announced that the footballer will be an ambassador of the Valencian Community. “But Ferran put one condition, not to be paid for it,” revealed Pérez Llorca.
The madness came in the afternoon. Roads were congested, metro cars packed with fans, Foios residents lining up hours in advance. The youth have brought out the Spain jerseys. Those of a star. They don’t seem willing to spend more to wear the second one. At least until 2030. You can also see some Barça ones. And even a couple from Valencia, where Ferran came from when he still wore a mask. The crowd waits patiently at the doors of the sports center. It’s as if the eclipse had come early in Foios.
At half past six sharp, a detail with the crowd defending themselves with umbrellas from the scorching sun, the song El Tiburón thunders, red and yellow confetti floats in the air, and Ferran Torres, white pants, black shirt, climbs the stage where a screen displays images of the player under a slogan in Valencian: ‘Que gran és ser de Foios’. In the front row, his family, his friends, and even Soro, the matador, the most famous man in town until the striker burst onto the scene. The event host asks him what it means for him to be from Foios and Ferran finishes as quickly as that day in the 106th minute of the game of his life. “It’s easy to sum up: it’s the perfect town.”
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He later said that on the morning of the match he sent a message to the WhatsApp group he has with friends and family. “I told them I had the feeling I was going to be the protagonist.” The night before, like an iceberg, he slept nine hours. Then came the match and the moment when Luis de la Fuente brought him on. “You’re more nervous when you’re off than when you’re on. I was enjoying it like a child. You can’t waste the opportunity. When the ball stayed bouncing there for me, I understood Iniesta’s words, that the world stops. It was just the ball and me alone. I felt a strength I hadn’t felt before and it was the goal of an entire country.”
Ferran Torres, sometimes footballer, sometimes sex symbol, recalled the anecdote with Princess Leonor, who asked him if he was going to cut his hair. The striker looked at the audience and asked if they wanted him to do it. The response was unanimous: the long hair, the cut his hairdresser Nando Díaz suggested months ago, stays.
That medium-length hair has taken him to the cover of Vogue, to Men’s Health. In the United States, he has seen the extent of his fame. The honorary pitch drop at the legendary Yankees baseball stadium. A training session with the Baltimore Ravens American football team. Interviews on CNN, NBC, and ESPN. “I try to stay calm and not lose my head,” he told Vogue. It’s not easy to stay grounded. That’s why he talks one or two days a week with the psychologist he has worked with for four years. It’s not easy. Wherever he goes, everyone reminds him he is the footballer of the moment. Although in Foios, a little more.
