Cristóbal Emilio "Curro" Torres Ruiz (born 27 December 1976) is a Spanish retired

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 ...

who played as 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 ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

of Estonian club FCI Levadia Tallinn. In his professional career, whose later years were blighted by several injuries, he represented mainly

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, helping the team to two

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' ...

championships (playing 119 matches at that level over eight seasons and scoring once) and the 2004 UEFA Cup. He appeared for

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

at the 2002 World Cup. Torres started working as a manager in 2014, spending three years at Valencia B.

Early life

Torres was born in Ahlen,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. His parents hailed from

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

, and emigrated to Germany for employment. When their son was still an infant they moved back to Spain, settling in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

Club career

Valencia

Torres began his career with

UDA Gramenet Unión Deportiva Atlético Gramenet Milán is a Spanish football team based in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1945 it currently plays in ''Segona Catalana – Group 4'', holding home games at '' Mu ...

before joining

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the S ...

in 1997. He was a regular with

the B team The B Team is a global nonprofit initiative co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. It advocates for business practices that are more centered on humanity and the climate. History In 2013, a group of leaders came together followin ...

for two seasons, being loaned out to Recreativo de Huelva and CD Tenerife the next two years. In the latter, alongside Mista and Luis García, he was a key member of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

club – coached by Rafael Benítez– that won promotion to

. Torres then returned to Valencia, where he proceeded to become a key member in the sides that won the national league twice and the

2003–04 UEFA Cup The 2003–04 UEFA Cup was won by Valencia in the final against Marseille. It wrapped up a league and UEFA Cup double for Valencia. Porto could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League and al ...

, again under Benítez. From early 2005 onwards, however, he would be severely hindered by injuries, although he appeared in 17 games in the 2006–07 campaign, mainly as a left-back due to Emiliano Moretti's forced absence. For 2007–08, Torres was loaned to top-flight newcomers Real Murcia, where his physical problems resurfaced (two league appearances). Upon their relegation he returned to Valencia, being restricted to two

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

matches during the season, with even

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Hedwiges Maduro being preferred as Miguel's backup; he left the ''Che'' in June 2009.

Later years

On 27 July 2009, Torres moved to Gimnàstic de Tarragona of Segunda División, playing no minutes whatsoever in the season (league or

cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, c ...

) as ''Nàstic'' finished in 18th position. In January of the following year, after the loan acquisitions of Borja Viguera and

Álex Bergantiños Alejandro "Álex" Bergantiños García (born 7 June 1985) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He spent his entire professional career contracted to Deportivo, making over 250 appearances and being loaned to sev ...

by the club, the 34-year-old's contract was cancelled.

Coaching

On 7 April 2014, Torres returned to Valencia after nearly five years, being appointed manager of the reserves in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

. In 2017 he took them to the final round of the play-offs, being knocked out by Albacete Balompié. On 2 July 2017, Torres was named

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a Spanish football team based in Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Preferente Autonómica de Murcia – Group 1, holding home games at Estadio Francisco Artés ...

manager. On 17 December, with the side in the relegation zone, he was sacked. Torres was appointed at NK Istra 1961 from the

Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva H ...

on 20 September 2018, but left the club after only one month in charge. On 19 November he replaced the fired José Ramón Sandoval at the helm of

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

, and was dismissed on 25 February 2019 having earned fewer points (ten) than any other second division team during that period. On 27 December 2019, Torres was named manager of second-tier CD Lugo after the sacking of Eloy Jiménez. He was himself relieved of his duties six months later, with the team second-bottom.

International career

Courtesy of solid performances whilst at Valencia, Torres made his debut for

on 14 November 2001 in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The ria ...

(1–0 win), and was a member of the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

squad, where he appeared against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

in the group stage.Hacen pleno (Three for three)
Mundo Deportivo, 13 June 2002 (in Spanish)

Managerial statistics

Honours

Valencia *

: 2001–02, 2003–04 *

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 ...

: 1998–99 *

: 2003–04 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, ' betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International F ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

References

External links

* *
CiberChe biography and stats
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Curro 1976 births Living people People from Ahlen People of Andalusian descent German people of Spanish descent Citizens of Spain through descent Sportspeople from Münster (region) Spanish footballers Footballers from Catalonia Footballers from North Rhine-Westphalia Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CF Damm players UDA Gramenet footballers Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Valencia CF players Recreativo de Huelva players CD Tenerife players Real Murcia players Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers UEFA Cup winning players Spain international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players Catalonia international footballers Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Primera Federación managers Valencia CF Mestalla managers Lorca FC managers Córdoba CF managers CD Lugo managers Cultural Leonesa managers Croatian Football League managers NK Istra 1961 managers FCI Levadia Tallinn managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Croatia Expatriate football managers in Estonia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Estonia