Torres out to end bad Wembley memories

Carl Markham

Fernando Torres admitted he acted like a tourist on his maiden visit to Wembley last year -- but there was only one souvenir on his mind ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham.

Despite being in England since 2007, Torres had to wait until November to play at the national stadium.

It was not a happy memory as his Spain side were beaten 1-0 by England, Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard scored the winning goal for the Three Lions.

Torres took plenty of stick at the club's training ground afterwards, but he knows he will be part of the celebrations this time if Chelsea beat Spurs.

"Wembley has so much history. English teams have a couple of chances every season to play there and it's massive," he said.

"All the players want to play in those games -- it's my fifth season in England but this is the first time I'm going there (with a club).

"It's very exciting because we have the chance to reach the final in a London derby, so it will be very nice to be there and to play, so I'm looking forward to it."

Of last year's international, he said: "I'd never played against England at Wembley before that game. I'd played against them at Old Trafford, which was nice, but Wembley is so famous.

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"All the Spanish supporters were excited and taking pictures -- even the players were taking photos in training the night before.

"If you like football, you want to play at Wembley. I had the chance with Spain, but obviously they're not very good memories from that day as we lost, so hopefully on Sunday it will be better.

"In Spain, the domestic cup is not as important as the FA Cup is to English teams, it's more of a minor competition.

"It's nice to see in England that the tradition is still there and the FA Cup is very close to the league in terms of significance.

"All the fans are very excited, the players want to play in the final and it's nice to see the importance which is given to the competition in this country.

"If the semi-final is that big, obviously the final is even bigger.

"It will be great for the Chelsea fans and players. We have players here who have played at Wembley loads of times but, for some of us, it's the first time and so it will be more special for us."

Spurs' Gareth Bale turned up the heat by claiming Spurs were the better side, but Roberto Di Matteo insisted tomorrow's clash would decide it once and for all.