Watch Fernando go
Torres will reign for Spain
Last updated: 21st May 2008
Carragher & Torres: kop heroes
The form that he is going into the tournament with shows that he is the stand out striker in European football at the moment.
Jamie Carragher
Quotes of the week
Jamie Carragher says Fernando Torres is the right man to fire Spain to European glory this summer.
With England out of the European Championship finals, the Liverpool defender admitted that he, along with most of Merseyside, would be supporting Spain at this summer's tournament.
And he believes that Liverpool's number nine is more than capable of reproducing his club form this season in Austria & Switzerland.
"If any team has ideas of winning the Euros' they're going to need a striker who is going to get five or six goals for them," he told Revista de la Liga.
"The form that he is going into the tournament with shows that he is the standout striker in European football at the moment, so I think if Spain want to do well Fernando will have to get five or six goals for them and I think he is more than capable of doing that."
Criticism
Despite his stunning form for Liverpool this season, Torres has received criticism in some quarters for not reproducing his deadly touch in front of goal for his country.
However, Carragher believes that this criticism of the striker is unfair:
"I don't think there are many players that reproduce their club form at international level," he said. "It's a lot easier for them at club level because you're playing with the same players and you train with them every day.
"Going into international level, I think the extra pressure of the press and the media, sometimes takes its toll on the players.
"I don't think it is something that you can just throw at Torres because 80 or 90 per cent of players play better for their clubs than they do for their international teams and it's something we have to accept."
Support
With four Liverpool players in the Spain squad, there are no prizes for guessing why at least half of Liverpool will be supporting Luis Aragones' side come June, and Carragher admitted a successful tournament for Spain could also benefit Liverpool next season.
"I think everyone in Liverpool is supporting Spain," he said. "Obviously we've got a lot of friends who are going to be playing and of course we've got a Spanish manager as well, so there's a big Spanish connection.
"Hopefully they will go and do well and that will benefit Liverpool as well because they'll come back very confident."
