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Shortly after Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout to win the Champions League final, Fernando Torres reportedly claimed that he volunteered to take one of the all-important shots, saying, "I wanted to take a penalty but they didn't let me." And now video showing the moment Roberto Di Matteo left him out of the order makes it clear that Torres didn't hide his frustration.
With the score 1-1 after extra time, Di Matteo gathered his players and announced the order in which they would be taking the shots. When Torres didn't hear his name called, he threw up his hands and turned to walk away, but the Chelsea interim manager grabbed him by the arm and tried to calm him down before the decisive shootout.
Back in March, while Torres was still in the midst of his scoring drought, Juan Mata offered him the chance to take a penalty during Chelsea's 2-0 FA Cup fifth round replay win over Birmingham in his place, but Torres refused.
But now, Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay insists everything is fine and Torres will be playing a key role for the European champions now that Didier Drogba has decided to move on. From the Independent:
"We've got Fernando Torres. And Fernando Torres is the man that we will go forward with and Fernando Torres will score us the goals. I have no doubt about that. Fernando Torres is a world-class centre-forward and Fernando Torres will score goals for Chelsea. I'm not worried at all. We've just won the Champions League and Fernando Torres played his part in that.
"He was disappointed that he didn't play, and I think that led to the rest. Things are fine. There is no problem. Fernando is a fantastic player and an asset to the football club and we have no problems at all. It's not all about goals. It's not just about the individual scoring goals, his teamwork... he is a very, very important player. And I think you will see Fernando Torres score many goals for Chelsea."
And no, he didn't start laughing after he said that. Presumably."He was disappointed that he didn't play, and I think that led to the rest. Things are fine. There is no problem. Fernando is a fantastic player and an asset to the football club and we have no problems at all. It's not all about goals. It's not just about the individual scoring goals, his teamwork... he is a very, very important player. And I think you will see Fernando Torres score many goals for Chelsea."