Source: Team_Talk
Torres: I didn't put Spain first
Striker Fernando Torres has denied putting country before club after having a second knee operation which ended his Liverpool season.[LNB] The Spain international had surgery in Barcelona on Sunday night to repair damaged cartilage in his right knee, a problem which resurfaced after a similar operation in January.[LNB]That ruled him out of Liverpool's remaining four Premier League matches and their Europa League semi-final against former club Atletico Madrid but a six-week recovery period still gives him a good chance of going to the World Cup in South Africa.[LNB]But Torres said safeguarding his international place was not the overriding factor in the decision to operate again.[LNB]"It's not true. We exhausted all the possibilities before arriving at the final one," said the 26-year-old.[LNB]"There were three options. One was that the meniscus was okay, the second was that the problem was not clear and the third that the meniscus was affected.[LNB]"On Friday afternoon in Liverpool the scan I had cleared up the doubts and made us see that I would almost definitely have to have an operation.[LNB]"The meniscus was affected and the doctors said they had to operate.[LNB]"What's more, the injury happened in the second minute of the game (Europa League quarter-final second leg) against Benfica at Anfield and I played injured for 85 minutes.[LNB]"If I had been thinking about the World Cup and Spain I would have asked for a change (substitution).[LNB]"It wasn't like that, I wanted to get to the final of the Europa League with my team."[LNB]The current restrictions on air travel because of the volcanic ash cloud meant Torres' planned return to Barcelona on Thursday to see specialist Dr Ramon Cugat was delayed until Saturday.[LNB]When another flight was cancelled Torres decided to make the arduous road and rail trip with an overnight stop just outside Paris.[LNB]"The trip was an adventure. I arrived exhausted at 8.30 on Sunday evening and barely had time to have a shower at the hotel before going to the clinic where Dr Cugat was waiting for me," he said.[LNB]"Three hours after I had the meniscus operation."
