Fernando Torres Shows Character as Patrick Vieira Seeks Attention

Fernando Torres has again vowed to remain as a Liverpool player. The Spaniard claimed that money would not tempt him away from Anfield and that he believes he will win the Premiership and Champions League with Liverpool.

"Winning the European Championship with Spain gave me a taste of what winning at the top level was like and once you've had a taste of success it becomes an addiction," said Torres.
 
"A lot of players committed themselves to Liverpool this summer with new contracts and players don't do that unless they think they can have their ambitions met."
 
"There is a lot of belief at the club and a lot of trust in the manager. I sincerely believe I will win the Premier League and the European Cup here."
 
"The winning tradition is very clear at Liverpool. I want to be involved in a little piece of their history."

Torres ended with: "As long as Liverpool want me, I will stay."

Despite being away on international duty, Torres spent a little more time expressing his comments regarding Mascherano's rumoured exit.

"Javier loves it at Liverpool, that is all I can tell you," Setanta Sports quote him as saying.

"In the summer people like to make a lot of noises about world-class players—and Javier is a world-class player."

"He has said himself that he is very happy at Anfield and there is no reason for him to want to leave."

Torres has also spoken about his support to former Liverpool striker, Michael Owen. He revealed his trust towards Rafa Benitez at the end regarding the proposed big money signing of Glen Johnson.

All that news didn't just make my day but also increased my respect towards Fernando Torres.

Meanwhile, Patrick Vieira stole a little bit of spotlight from Real Madrid by stating something that shocked me a lot.

He told that Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba would have won a couple of Ballon d'Ors if they were not Africans.

“I believe that Eto’o deserved to win it at least twice. He and Drogba are two strikers who have proven their talents in Europe and in their own domestic leagues for their respective clubs,” Vieira was quoted as saying by French newspaper, Le Figaro.

“These are questions of political order. It would be easier for Eto’o or Drogba [to win the Ballon d’Or] if they were of a different nationality,” he added.

There is nothing wrong showing support to two of the greatest strikers in Europe at the moment but I don't see a need to relate that to racial issues.

Ballon d'Or is a very prestigious award and obviously it is not easy to win it. Players like Paolo Maldini, Thierry Henry, Steven Gerrard, Raul Gonzalez, Eric Cantona, and Ryan Giggs have not won it either.

Thierry Henry's magnificence in his Arsenal years was only enough to make him the runner-up in 2003 and second runner-up in 2006. Five times Champions League winner, Paolo Maldini was only good enough to finish second runner-up in years 1994 and 2003. Roberto Carlos, who is one of the best left-backs in the history of football, if not the best has only made it to the top three once in 2002.

Ryan Giggs' glittering career hasn't been good enough for him to make the top three yet. Liverpool's domestic and European dominance in the 80's spearheaded by Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush wasn't good enough for any of their players to win Ballon d'Or either. Dalglish was runner-up in 1983 while Rush was never a top three.

That sums up the two items of news that concerned me most today.