Marca: Ferran scored 22 goals in 50 national team games, chasing Di Stefano s record of 23 goals in 31 games

Recently, "Marca" talked about Ferran Torres, who has performed well recently. They said that the player is chasing the record of 23 goals in 31 games created by Di Stefano in the Spanish national team.

Due to the absence of Yamal and Nico Williams due to injuries, De La Fuente had to change the original plan. The original forward arrangement was to have Oyarzabal serve as the center, with the two wingers on both sides. Iglesias was called up to replace the Barcelona player, indicating the manager's plans, which include starting Ferran Torres against Georgia.

Phelan was not selected in the first two lists selected by De La Fuente. In September 2023, due to Olmo and Asensio being injured in Georgia, Ferran was able to return to the national team and scored two goals in less than half an hour against Cyprus. Since then, Phelan has been a constant presence in the national team squad, apart from absences due to physical issues.

However, since his return, he has only made 15 appearances in 28 games, only 5 of which were starts. This has not happened since the third game of the European Championship, when his goal helped Spain beat Albania and de la Fuente rotated all the players in that game.

Despite limited playing time, Phelan's statistics for the national team are still impressive. Without Morata, he is the national team's top scorer with 22 goals in 50 games. With an average of 0.44 goals per game, this data exceeds many of the great scorers in the history of the national team: Raul (0.43), Morata (0.42), Butragueno (0.37) and Torres (0.34). The only player who surpasses him is Villa, the national team's all-time top scorer, who averages 0.60 goals per game (59 goals in 98 games).

Villa praised Ferran very much and said: "As long as I don't pay attention, he can break my record. I hope Ferran Torres can break my scoring record in the Spanish national team." In order to achieve this goal, Ferran still has a long way to go, but his age (25 years old) means that he still has many opportunities.

Phelan once again proved his strength in the game against Georgia. This game is also an opportunity for him to continue to improve his position in the national team's scorer list. With his outstanding performance at the beginning of the season and his goal against Turkey, Ferran is approaching the record of a legendary striker - Di Stefano (who played for the national team after becoming Spanish nationality). Di Stefano scored 23 goals in 31 games for Spain. Ramos also reached 23 goals, but it took him 180 games. The next goals were Butragueno's 26 goals (69 games) and Morientes' 27 goals (47 games).

Ferran Torres said that scoring goals has made him addicted since he was a child, but he also tried hard mentally to avoid being overly obsessed. His motto is “try, make mistakes, get back up.” With the arrival of Flick, Ferran was given a second chance at Barcelona and he took it. Likewise, when De La Fuente opened the door for him again with the national team, he jumped at the chance. Phelan has scored goals in two European Cups, a World Cup and a UEFA Nations League finals.