Fernando Torres, who knows a thing or two about failure on a football pitch, was full of praise for amateur opponents Tahiti after scoring four goals in Spain's 10-0 Confederations Cup win on Thursday.
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The 29-year-old striker, who has suffered long lapses of form, severe criticism and questions about his hunger for success during two-and-a-half turbulent seasons at Chelsea, was impressed by Tahiti's sportsmanship, integrity and the example they set in the match.
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Tahiti were given a standing ovation at the final whistle by nearly 72 000 fans at the Maracana stadium who cheered almost every move made by the Oceania champions, ranked 138th in the world.
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"They are the example for other teams," Torres told reporters after accepting the Man-of-the-Match award for his four-goal haul.
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"They tried to play football and although the result proved there is a massive difference between the teams, that was not the most important thing. The most important thing was it was sporting contest.
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"All of us have become big fans of that team. We have all had our photos taken together - it was a joy to play in that match and not just because we won so easily, but because they were sporting and despite losing they played with a smile on their faces from the first kick to the last.
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"A lot of other teams should follow their example," added Torres who opened the scoring in the fifth minute for the world champions and grabbed his fourth goal a minute after firing a penalty against Tahitian goalkeeper Mikael Roche's crossbar.