Facundo Torres

Facundo Torres
Facundo Daniel Torres Pérez (born 13 April 2000) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Orlando City and the Uruguay national team.
Torres has previously played for Peñarol where he won the 2021 Uruguayan Primera División title.
Early life
Torres was born in the Colón Centro y Noroeste neighborhood of Montevideo, but grew up in La Paz, Canelones. At the age of four, Torres attended his first football training session with his cousin Joaquín at Juventud River de La Paz but showed little interest and instead sat in the middle of the field and played with dirt. His father later took him to La Paz Wanderers where he enjoyed playing with friends before spending a year with Defensor Sporting. At the age of 10 he was selected to play in the National Championship final to represent the regional southern league in Melo where he was scouted by Peñarol and invited to join their academy. With Peñarol, Torres traveled to Brazil to play in the , a friendly international competition for academy teams. Despite being two years younger than his teammates such as Federico Valverde, Diego Rossi and Santiago Bueno, Torres was a standout player at the tournament. Coached by Robert Lima, Torres continued to be fast-tracked through the age groups and in 2014, helped Peñarol to an under-15 national title. In February 2016, he was invited to train with the professional senior team for the first time, at the age of 15. That same year, Italian Serie A club Juventus made an attempt to sign Torres via his agent Daniel Fonseca. Torres' father opposed the move, thinking he was too young and describing it as "via the back door," parting ways with Fonseca as a result with Torres remaining at Peñarol to continue his development and earn playing time.
Club career
Peñarol
2020: First senior debut
Torres was named in a senior match day squad for the first time on 7 June 2018, as an unused substitute against Defensor Sporting. Moving between the first team and reserves under both Leonardo Ramos and Diego López without ever debuting, Torres was handed his senior debut by Diego Forlán on 16 August 2020 in a 2–0 Primera División win against Boston River. He came on as a 46th minute substitute for Matías de los Santos and scored his team's opening goal five minutes later. He made his continental debut in the delayed 2020 Copa Libertadores group stage, starting all four of the remaining games and scoring once in a 3–0 victory over Chilean side Colo-Colo. In his debut season, Torres made 34 appearances and scored 10 goals across all competitions.
2021: Championship winners
Torres scored four goals during Peñarol's run to the 2021 Copa Sudamericana semi-finals before being eliminated by eventual winners Athletico Paranaense.In his final competitive appearance for the club, Torres scored the equalizer semi-finals of the 2021 Uruguayan Primera División championship play-offs on 7 December, bringing Peńarol to a 1–1 draw with Torneo Apertura winners Plaza Colonia. His team would go on to win the shoot-out 8–7. Because Peńarol had the most aggregate points of the regular season, they were crowned champions without a finals. Torres made 33 appearances and scored 10 goals across all competitions during his final season at the club.
Orlando City
2022: First season in MLS and U.S. Open Cup victory
On 24 January, Torres signed for Orlando City of Major League Soccer on a four-year Young Designated Player contract with the option for a fifth. He joined for a reported club record $9 million fee. Torres debuted on 11 February for Orlando in a preseason friendly with Colorado Rapids, resulting in a 1–1 draw. On 19 March, Torres scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over LA Galaxy. Torres would score his first brace for Orlando, his second goal being a penalty kick, in a 3–0 win over Sacramento Republic FC in the final of the 2022 U.S. Open Cup on 7 September 2022, thus securing the club's first ever trophy. With four goals in total across the competition, Torres would be the joint-highest goalscorer in the competition. In his first season with the club Orlando placed 7th in the Eastern Conference, securing the club entry into the play-offs. Orlando would then be eliminated by CF Montréal in the first round in a 0–2 defeat. Torres would score 9 goals in the regular season and assist in 10 others, tying him second overall in goal contributions in a regular season for the club alongside Kevin Molino and Kaká and behind Nani. Overall, Torres would make 35 appearances for Orlando and score 10 goals across all competitions.
2023: First international tournament and Leagues Cup debut
In the following season due to Orlando City winning the U.S. Open Cup the previous year, the Lions qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League, the team's first ever time in the competition. The team would make a first round exit on 15 March following a 1–1 draw over two legs against Tigres UANL, due to the Mexican side advancing on away goal advantage. In the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, Orlando were defending champions but on 9 May they were beaten 1–0 by Charlotte FC in the Round of 32, in which Torres shot and missed once. Torres would score his first ever regular season brace for the club in a 3–0 victory over New York Red Bulls on 3 June, one of his goals once again being as a result of a penalty kick. Torres made his first ever Leagues Cup appearance with a start against Houston Dynamo in the first round of the group stage. The Lions would draw 1–1, followed up with a 5–4 penalty shoot-out victory in which Torres scored the winning penalty. However, Orlando would then go on to play Inter Miami, who had recently acquired international stars Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba in mid-July. The Lions would then be eliminated in a 3–1 loss to Inter Miami. Torres would achieve double digit regular season goals for the first time in his career with a brace in a 2–1 victory over St. Louis City SC on 26 August. In total, Torres would score 14 goals and assist in 4 others across the regular season, giving him 18 goal contributions. He would have the most goals and total goal contributions in the club.
International career
Youth
Torres represented Uruguay as a youth international at under-15, under-17 and under-20 level. He was part of Uruguay squad at the 2015 South American U-15 Championship and scored five goals in five games, the joint-third most behind Brazilians Vitinho and Vinícius Júnior, as Uruguay finished runners-up behind Brazil. He is the all-time top scorer for Uruguay under-17s and competed at the 2017 South American U-17 Championship.
Senior
On 5 March 2021, Torres received his first senior Uruguay national team call-up as part of a 35-man preliminary squad for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Argentina and Bolivia. However, CONMEBOL suspended those matches the next day amid concern over the COVID-19 pandemic.
He made his senior international debut on 3 June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Paraguay as a 66th minute substitute for Jonathan Rodríguez as Uruguay drew 0–0. He made his first start five days later in another goalless qualifying draw against Venezuela. In June 2021, Torres was named to the squad for the 2021 Copa América and appeared in all five games as a substitute. Uruguay were eliminated at the quarter-final stage on penalties by Colombia.
In November 2022, Torres was named to the final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He was an unused substitute for all three games as Uruguay was eliminated at the group stage.
On 20 June 2023, Torres scored his first international goal in a 2–0 friendly victory over Cuba.
Career statistics
Club
International
Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Torres goal.
Honours
Peñarol
Uruguayan Primera División: 2021
Orlando City
U.S. Open Cup: 2022
Individual
Uruguayan Primera División Team of the Year: 2020, 2021
References
External links
2000 births
People from Las Piedras, Uruguay
Footballers from Canelones Department
Living people
Men's association football forwards
Uruguayan men's footballers
Uruguay men's youth international footballers
Uruguay men's international footballers
Uruguayan Primera División players
Major League Soccer players
Peñarol players
Orlando City SC players
Designated Players (MLS)
2021 Copa América players
2022 FIFA World Cup players
Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers
Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States