FERNANDO TORRES ADMITS HE LOST HIS LOVE FOR FOOTBALL

The Spaniard has conceded that during the dark moments in his playing career, he stopped loving the game and explains the importance of being dropped against Venezuela.

Spain striker Fernando Torres has admitted that he lost his passion for playing football after enduring the toughest period of his career when he struggled for form after moving to Chelsea from Liverpool.
The 28-year-old silenced his critics by scoring a brilliant double in his country's 4-0 demolition of Republic of Ireland on Wednesday night, but revealed how being omitted by national team coach Vicente del Bosque for a friendly encounter in February became a turning point.

"Del Bosque phoned me before dropping me for the Venezuela friendly and I fully understood [his reasons]," he told The Sun.

"I had lost some of my love for being at work.
"Being picked for Spain had become a habit. Now it is a prize again. I had stopped setting an example to younger players, which is something I was taught to do at Atletico Madrid.

The former Liverpool and Atleti striker could not hide his delight at scoring his first major tournament goals since netting the winner in the Euro 2008 final.

"I was pleased with my personal performance and very happy to have scored but I’m mainly happy because the team won," he beamed.

"We're confident now because we feel as strong as ever, because we played well. We have to keep playing like this.

"We knew scoring early would set us up well. We needed the comfort that brought us. That got rid of the doubts and opened up the game."