Fernando Torres will hang up his boots later this month, and to help the undoubted celebrations that will surround the match against Vissel Kobe, New Balance have unveiled a special pre-match jersey that has been inspired by Torres’ favourite Atletico Madrid shirt from the late 80s and early 90s.
For the last year Fernando Torres has been playing in the J-League for Sagan Tosu, but at the end of June he announced that he would be retiring from football following a ‘farewell’ match on 23 August against rivals Vissel Kobe, for whom Torres’ former international teammates Andres Iniesta and David Villa both play. And amongst the celebrations that will take place both before and after the match, New Balance have produced two special commemorative jerseys for the occasion.
The first jersey is the one that will be worn in the match, and it’s a variation of the home shirt, with pink stripes introduced on the light blue base. The words ‘Gracias Torres’ feature inside the collar, and an F9T crest, which again thanks Torres for his contributions, takes place on the centre of the chest.
The second jersey is a pre-match jersey, with a design that’s based on a classic retro Atlético away shirt made by Puma from the late 1980s. Torres has previously stated that this particular Atlético shirt was one of his all-time favourites and he always wished that he had been able to play in it. New Balance obviously got word of this and immediately set about creating the special jersey that will be worn before El Nino’s last-ever match. Nice touch.
It'll be sad to see the end of El Nino's glittering career, but we'll always have the memories...
