Long before his extra-time goal against Argentina, the Spain forward developed his finishing against two highly unusual opponents.
Spain’s World Cup hero Ferran Torres says the first defenders he faced weren’t even human
Ferran Torres instantly became a Spanish World Cup hero by finding a way past Argentina’s defense. The opponents who helped prepare him for that moment, however, were considerably hairier.
Torres scored the only goal of the 2026 World Cup final, breaking the deadlock in the 106th minute as Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 after extra time at MetLife Stadium. The substitute’s finish secured La Roja’s second men’s world title and placed him alongside Andrés Iniesta in Spanish soccer history.
Yet an old interview has revealed that some of Torres’ earliest one-on-one battles did not come against other children.
Who were Ferran Torres’ first defenders?
Speaking to Guillem Balagué for Spanish soccer magazine Panenka in 2020, Torres recalled growing up in Foios, a small town just outside Valencia. Although his street was wide enough to play soccer, he generally stayed closer to home.
“I didn’t go out much because, thank God, I lived in a house with a ground floor,” he explained. “I had my goal there and my dogs, who acted as defenders, and I could play and have a pretty good time.”
Torres said he spent hours with the ball, with one particularly persistent dog constantly attempting to take it away from him.
“I had a dog that did nothing but try to steal the ball from me,” he said. “In the end, that helps.”
Those original defenders were Lluna and Mini, two dogs that Torres later said had been with the family throughout his entire journey toward professional soccer.
Why didn’t Ferran Torres play street soccer?
Unlike many previous generations of Spanish players, Torres said he did not grow up playing regular games in the street.
“I didn’t play in the street because I was born in 2000 and everything was already more modernized,” he told Panenka. His first organized games instead came in futsal at his school, EPLA, before Valencia signed him at seven.
The forward admitted that his approach was not especially complicated in those days. “I only wanted to score,” he said. “I didn’t even pass.”
More than two decades later, the instinct remained. Presented with Spain’s biggest chance in the World Cup final, Torres again concentrated on one thing: putting the ball in the net. This time, Argentina’s human defenders could not stop him either.
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