More than 1,000 turn up to get a glimpse of the
Liverpool hero
THE Greeks had Zeus, the Romans Jupiter, Liverpool have Steven
Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
While club captain Gerrard has spent his entire career at the club,
young Torres from Madrid has crossed into the realm of godhood
among the club's fanatical fans.
It is not just those in England and Spain who worship the Spanish
forward.
At yesterday's autograph signing session at Velocity @ Novena
Square, more than 1,000 fans turned up decked in the famous red to
pay homage to Torres and cheer Jamie Carragher.
Anfield's newest No 9 has taken Merseyside by storm, his 24 goals
in the league (33 in all competitions) for Liverpool in his debut
season in 2007/08 making him the first player since Robbie Fowler
to score more than 20 in a season.
The fans who packed Novena Square belted out Liverpool anthems of
praise for Torres and Carragher as their chariot for the day, a
black Mercedes Vito, turned in off the road and onto the promenade
in front of the mall.
It was clearly Torres that everyone wanted to see. Even when the
emcee called for a louder rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, all
the crowd would do was chant "Torres, Torres".
The flash bulbs from the countless digital cameras hardly dimmed as
the two players walked on stage.
The emcee gushed, "A perfect striker does exist at Liverpool. It's
you."
Torres raised a roar, and endeared himself even more to the
faithful when he responded: "No, no. There is no perfect striker. I
have fantastic team-mates who provide the assists for me to score.
I work for my team-mates, not myself."
The crowd loved it, breaking out in the Torres song that is sung so
lustily at Anfield, Liverpool's No 9 must have felt loved.
The 25-year-old sat in the centre of the stage, with burly bald men
in conspicuous black shades standing watch. He smiled as a lucky
few were allowed to approach him.
He shook hands and spoke freely while signing autographs and taking
pictures, he broke into the widest grin when one fan screamed a
greeting in Spanish.
Two fans came bearing gifts. One offered up a pair of tiny pink
shoes with the name Nora written on the soles, for Torres' new-born
who came into the world on July 8, another presented a bodysuit to
him, also for his girl.
Torres accepted them with a big smile.
Then, as suddenly as they came, Torres and Carragher were ushered
away.
Carragher walked briskly to the vehicle, Torres smiled, waved and
gave the thumbs up to his screaming legions.
"They're human beings," said the emcee.
Not to the fans, who clearly felt they were in the presence of a
Liverpool god.