Saturday, October 4, 2008

Torres speaks

Unlike the earlier article I translated, this one from ESTO has a lot more quotes from Torres. I decided to just translate those this time.

Today, I complete a dream. I always wanted to play internationally and Thank God, now I’m going to with the U.S. Today they called me in.

The U.S. federation has followed me since I arrived in Mexico to play. They called me for the Olympics. I waited. I didn’t want to go because opportunity waited with Mexico. Now, the U.S. has called me again. They’ve talked to me in the past month and this second time that they wanted me, I decided I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I made the decition with my family to agree.

Sure, when I saw the game (of El Tri) versus Chile, I noted the new players and wondered why they hadn’t called me. At that point, I decided to forget about getting called in, but then the coach of the U.S. called and wanted me to play with them and said I could have a future with them. I decided that this second time, I’d say yes and try to get a place with the team.

(about Orozco) He’s another player like me. I didn’t take advantage of the chance to go to the Olympics. Those are steps in life. I’m going on Monday and hope to win a place with the team and play.

I began my career in Mexico, always with Pachuca. I got here at 16 and in a year and a half, I was promoted to the first team. Coach Meza picked me for my debut – he believes in me as a starter and I’ve tried to take advantage of the opportunity.

Now both teams want me, but I’ve chosen the U.S. Since I was little I wanted to play with the U.S. team. I played here in Mexico and developed and to tell the truth, I never thought the U.S. would call me. Now Mexico has called, but I’d made up my mind for the U.S. already.

I talked to Fassi. When I made the decision, Andres told me that Sven wanted me for Mexico. I told him the truth and told him that I didn’t want to pass up my chance with the U.S. and play in qualifying games. I want to play well.

The U.S. team is a great team, with experienced players who have played in the World Cup and now there are new players like Orozco and I working for sports. I’m thankful to Mexico, and glad they called me, but unfortunately, I had already decided to play for the U.S.A.

4 comments:

dt said...

thanks for posting this andrea

Anonymous said...

Sounds like he felt burned that he had sacrificed going to the Olympics with the US (which would have been a great experience) and then didn't get the call from Mexico (against Chile).

That's very understandable, I think Mexico messed up in how they handled his situation and then tried to make it better after he had already made up his mind.

I applaud Torres sticking with his decision to play for the US and I'll applaud him every time he plays for the US. Tough luck Mexico.

Anonymous said...

Being split between two countries like that is understandable. Although I still love beating Mexico, my attitude towards them is one of respect and understanding. Knowing that, I can say I would rather have a player who says this, than says the equivalent of the middle finger towards Mexico, which is what a lot of US fans would have applauded.

Anonymous said...

To extend your comments a bit... you would never expect a kid worth his salt to thumb his nose at his ancestry be it Mexico or any other country. It is good that this kid treated his decision with the appropriate amount of gravity. Am I glad he chose the US, of course. I can't wait to see his stuff on the field.