Miguel Torres Gómez (; born 28 January 1986) is a Spanish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. Usually a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he was equally at ease on the other flank. He played 223

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

matches over 11 seasons, in representation of Real Madrid,

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

and Málaga. He also competed professionally in Greece with

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

Club career

Real Madrid

Born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Torres joined Real Madrid's junior teams at the age of 12. He made his first-team debut against

Écija Balompié Écija Balompié, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Écija, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1939, it plays in División de Honor Andaluza, the fifth tier of Spanish football. History In 2007–08 season, the club b ...

as a starter, in a

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

game on 25 October 2006, because of injuries to defenders Fabio Cannavaro, Cicinho and

Míchel Salgado Miguel Ángel "Míchel" Salgado Fernández (born 22 October 1975) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right-back. Nicknamed ''Il Due'' ("two" in Italian), he was known for his combative tackling and attacking play. After excellent d ...

. He also played in the return leg as a substitute after replacing Sergio Ramos in the 80th minute, and started in both cup matches against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. Torres made his

debut in his fourth consecutive appearance, playing the whole 90 minutes in the 1–0 home victory over

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

on 14 January 2007. He kept his place in the side the following week against RCD Mallorca, with that performance leading coach Fabio Capello to state: "It is not easy to find a player with as much personality and talent in attack and defence as Torres". On 10 February 2007, against Real Sociedad, Torres made his first

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

: after a quick run on the left flank he provided a left-footed (he was right-footed by nature) cross for

Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven. A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often consi ...

, whose header found the net as Madrid came from behind to win it away 2–1. With Torres as an important piece, Real Madrid won their 30th league title; however, he was unable to play in the decisive game with Mallorca due to a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

tear. He signed his first professional contract on 12 July 2007, joining the main squad permanently from Real Madrid Castilla. Although Torres appeared in more league matches in the following season, he would start significantly less as Madrid repeated league honours, primarily due to the signing of Argentine

Gabriel Heinze Gabriel Iván Heinze (; born 19 April 1978) is an Argentine football coach and former player who is currently the manager of Newell's Old Boys. As a player, he operated as a defender, either as a left-back or a centre-back. Nicknamed ''Gringo'' ...

. During the 2008–09 campaign, still under

Bernd Schuster Bernd Schuster (born 22 December 1959) is a German former professional footballer of the late 1970s through early 1990s, who won club titles playing for the Spanish sides FC Barcelona (1980–1987) and Real Madrid (1988–1990). He played as a m ...

first and later Juande Ramos, he did not fare any better; additionally, he switched back from number 38 to 22 which he previously wore with Castilla.

Getafe

On 31 August 2009 –

transfer deadline day A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer w ...

– Torres moved to neighbours Getafe CF on a five-year contract, with Real having the option to rebuy in the first two. He made 26 appearances in his first season, with

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

to the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

after a sixth-place finish. Torres was challenged by new signing Juan Valera for the right-back position in the 2011–12 season, under new manager Luis García, but still contributed 23 league matches as the

outskirts team again retained their status. On 16 April 2012 he scored his first goal in the top division, opening a 5–1 home defeat of

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA E ...

Olympiacos and Málaga

On 9 August 2013, Torres joined

Olympiacos F.C. Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σ.Φ.Π. ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus, Attica. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP ('' ...

from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

on a three-year deal worth a reported

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

500,000, reuniting with Míchel who also coached him at Getafe and Real Madrid Castilla. After only ten competitive games he returned to Spain's top flight a year later, signing a one-year contract at Málaga CF with the option of two more. During his later spell at the

La Rosaleda Stadium Estadio La Rosaleda (; literally The Rose Garden) is a football stadium in the city of Málaga, in Andalucia, southern Spain. It is the home stadium of Málaga CF in Segunda División and was previously that of the Club Deportivo Málaga, of ...

, Torres suffered several injury problems and was also deemed surplus to requirements by manager

Juan Ramón López Muñiz Juan Ramón López Muñiz (born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Playing career Muñiz was born in Gijón, Asturias. During his playing days, he represented hometown club Spo ...

. On 4 July 2019, the 33-year-old announced his retirement from football.

International career

Torres made his debut for the Spain under-21 team on 6 February 2007 in a 2–2 draw against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, remaining a regular in subsequent fixtures.

Personal life

In 2021, Torres and actress

Paula Echevarría Paula Echevarría Colodrón (born 7 August 1977 in Candás, Carreño, Asturias, Spain) is a Spanish model and actress. Career In the year 2000 she made her television debut on series such as ''Al salir de clase'', ''Policías'', and ''Compa� ...

became parents to a son, also named Miguel.

Career statistics

Honours

Real Madrid *

: 2006–07, 2007–08 * Supercopa de España:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

; runner-up: 2007 Olympiacos * Super League Greece: 2013–14

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Miguel 1986 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Tercera División players Real Madrid C footballers Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Getafe CF footballers Málaga CF players Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players Spain under-21 international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece