Once upon a time, Lucas Torreira was making headlines when he famously outperformed Cristiano Ronaldo during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. You might be wondering what happened to him after his difficult departure from Arsenal. Well, Lucas is still playing, and more importantly, he has an inspiring story of rising from humble beginnings to success, which we are here to tell.
Lucas Torreira: The Inspiring Journey from Humble Beginnings to World Cup Fame
Preamble:
Lucas Torreira grew up in a large, middle-class family where happiness and contentment were never overshadowed by their financial situation. He was raised alongside his sisters, Ana and Pitu Torreira, and his brothers, Brahian and Bebo Torreira. In recent years, the Torreira family has become well-known in the Fray Bentos meat industry for corned beef production and export. This success story started in 2017 when Lucas purchased one of the largest butcher shops for his family, naming it ‘La 34’ after his jersey number at his Italian club, Sampdoria.
Lucas was always energetic and had a passion for sports, especially football, which he saw as a way to uplift himself and his family. At the young age of nine, he bravely left his hometown to try out for the youth team of Peñarol in Montevideo, hoping to secure a professional contract. Unfortunately, Lucas soon found himself in a tough situation when he was told that his accommodation could no longer be provided. With no place to stay and no money to make the 200-mile journey back home, Lucas faced a challenging moment in his early career.
This article delves into how Lucas Torreira overcame these hardships and forged his path to becoming the football genius known by his nickname, “Little Leader.” Let’s dive into the full story of his resilience and determination.
Lucas Torreira Childhood Story – Early Life and Family Background:
For Biography starters, his full name is Lucas Sebastián Torreira Di Pascua. Lucas Torreira was born on the 11th day of February 1996 to his mother, Viviana Di Pascua, and father, Ricardo Torreira, in Fray Bentos, Uruguay.
Lucas grew up in a large middle-class home whose happiness and contentment were not in any way held hostage by their middle-class family background.
As observed, Lucas Torreira has a close-knit Family of Butcher Shop Owners.
Besides his parents and other relatives, Lucas grew up with his sisters, Ana and Pitu Torreira, and his brothers, Brahian and Bebo Torreira.
In the small Uruguayan town of Fray Bentos, summer evenings are perfect for cycling along the peaceful beaches, especially at sunset.
From childhood to this day, Lucas has always cherished watching the fading yellow sunset with his mom, who works as a housekeeper.
Viviana Di Pascua enjoys sunny moments with her son.
Lucas and his dad also enjoy a good relationship. He likes to spend good quality time with his dad, who is a rich meat butcher in the sleepy, charming riverside area of Fray Bentos.
Ricardo Torreira and his son enjoy a close relationship.
Most recently, in 2017, the Torreira family became well known in the Fray Bentos meat business for corn beef production and export.
This happened when Lucas bought one of the biggest butcher shops for his family. He named it ‘La 34’ after his shirt number at Sampdoria, his Italian club.
Fray Bentos, where the footballer comes from, is well known for its meat business.
Did You Know?… Fray Bentos is a world supplier of corned beef. Also, Meat from Fray Bentos fed both British and American troops in World Wars I and II.
Lucas Torreira Biography Facts – The Rocky Career Start:
Among his brothers, Lucas was more eccentric and energetic and excelled majorly in sports. Early on, he got attached to playing football, which he believed would uplift himself and his family.
In order to start his professional journey, Lucas decided to enrol in his local team, 18 de Julio, which gave him the opportunity to showcase his talents.
Just as many young footballers in Fray Bentos dreamt big, Lucas, pictured below, had the desire to play for a bigger club in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo.
As a way of showing his obsession, he applied for several trials, and one went successfully with an invitation to Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo.
The early career life of Lucas Torreira.
The Rocky Journey:
Lucas’ quest to visit the Uruguayan capital city for the first time didn’t go as he had planned. Back in Fray Bentos, scary words once came through that Lucas was in trouble.
Barely a teenager, a brave nine-year-old left his hometown for the bustling city of Montevideo to attend trials with the youth team of Peñarol in pursuit of a professional contract. For Lucas;
It was a big club, a big city and a big opportunity.
While reaching Montevideo, Little Lucas was a long way from home and a long way from getting help. According to his plans, he was supposed to be lodged in the capital before and after his trials.
Unfortunately, Lucas received the news that his accommodation could no longer be provided. At that point, he had nowhere to go and no money to make his miserable 200-mile journey back home.
The Helping Hand:
When the news of his situation reached Atlética 18 de Julio, his boyhood club, there was no hesitation.
“We had a collection between the club’s directors to manage the expenses and the paperwork needed to bring Lucas back”
Says Hugo Ruiz, the club’s sporting coordinator.
The Permanent Gratitude:
Lucas Torreira decided to keep a mixture of gratitude and emotion to his boyhood club. This happened after he was accepted back like a prodigal son after his failed move.
That old gratitude is permanently fixed today as a tattoo on the back of his right leg. The tattoo of 18 de Julio’s crest is visible whenever Lucas keeps his socks a bit rolled down.
Torreira’s gratitude to his boyhood club runs deep, as evidenced by the tattoo of 18 de Julio’s crest on the back of his right leg.
Lucas Torreira Bio – Ticket to Europe:
As a way of saying thank you to 18 de Julio, Lucas Torreira decided to spend the whole of his childhood career there.
During those periods, he hardened his mental faculty; Lucas would most times play with the club’s men’s football.
This helped him develop the grit and toughness – or garra, to give it its Uruguayan name – that he plays with today.
In the year 2013, at the age of 17, Lucas decided to move to his much anticipated Uruguay capital to seek European opportunities.
Lucas Torreira’s journey – From the fields of 18 de Julio to the heart of Europe.
After a successful trial, Lucas joined Montevideo Wanderers’ youth team, which gave him his much-anticipated ticket to Europe.
Being picked for trials came after he had impressed Italian scouts from Pescara. “Torreira’s move to Italy is a curious story,” Marcelo Piriz, his former youth coach, once told Sky Sports. In his words;…
“I still talk about it with him now, because the truth is that he was initially not selected to attend trials in Italy.
There were five boys from different age groups on the list to go for trials, but Lucas wasn’t one of them, yet he was better than all of them.
This fact made me react to his situation. I had a conversation with our sporting coordinator, and I asked why Lucas wasn’t going. He said that he was too small – that in Italy, they had big players.
I told him that Lucas would be fine, and that changed his mind. In the end, Lucas went, and he was the only one who passed the trial and stayed in Europe”.
Lucas Torreira Biography – Early Life in Italy:
Before the Italian 2014/2015 football season, Torreira got himself promoted to Pescara’s first team.
Did You Know?… He was so good that only after five matches, clubs in the Italian top-flight (Serie A) started looking for him.
Despite successful negotiations with Sampdoria, Lucas decided to remain at Pescara in order to gain the first-team experience, which he fought tooth and nail to achieve.
Upon reaching that climax with the club, he decided to make his glorious move to the Serie A club Sampdoria.
It was Lucas Torreira’s performance at Sampdoria that gave him his Uruguayan ticket to the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Rise to Fame Story:
Before Uruguay’s second World Cup match, Lucas was still considered the second fiddle to other Uruguayan senior players. He didn’t even start for Uruguay against Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Lucas, however, saw himself in the starting eleven against the likes of Russia, Portugal, and France.
As Lucas started proving himself at the tournament, all Uruguayan fans, both home and abroad, started backing him for every hustle and tussle he made, especially with much bigger and stronger players.
It took no time for Lucas to get the much-needed fame he deserved in the World Cup tournament. This happened in his match against Portugal when he floored Cristiano Ronaldo in the tournament. Watch a short clip of the action. Unfortunately, his Uruguayan team crashed out of the tournament after reaching the quarter-finals.
Lucas Torreira Biography – Post World Cup:
Following his superb performance at the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament, Lucas Torreira received a hero’s welcome upon returning to his hometown of Fray Bentos, Uruguay.
Once words got out that “Luquita” or “Little Leader” had returned to his hometown, Fray Bentos, fans began to fill the streets in a bid to get a glimpse of him, who was evidently humbled and seen like a “Little god“. As seen in the photo, Lucas Torreira was driven by his father with his tired mum also in the front seat.
Did You Know?… Even a 90-year-old grandmother waited at the door of Lucas Torreira’s childhood team, 18 de Julio, to kiss the star who was known to later pay homage to his old club.
Another young mother and her son had to travel more than 65 kilometres by motorcycle just to see Lucas Torreira’s face. Upon being appreciated by his people, Lucas once said;
“When you are a child and you dream of these things, everything seems very far away.
It’s amazing, to get to Uruguay.
to see the affection of all these guys. It’s something magnificent.
something that I have earned through a lot of sacrifice.
I want to share happiness with all of them because they saw me grow up, they know how difficult everything was for me.”
Becoming a Gunner:
After a summer of speculation, Arsenal decided to go for the combative midfielder whom they’ve craved for years since after Gilberto Silva and, most recently, Sergio Busquets.
Lucas Torreira joined the English club Arsenal on 10 July 2018 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £26.4m.
Did You Know?… Arsenal paid Sampdoria a total of £26.4m — £4.4m more than his release clause — in order to guarantee his signature. His Sampdoria coach Marco Giampaolo at that time, made a funny statement saying;
“If Torreira were 1.8 metres tall, he would already cost €100m and would be considered among the strongest defensive midfielder in the world,”
The rest, as they say, is now history.
Lucas Torreira Wife – Vittoria Repetto:
Behind every great man, there’s a great woman, or so the saying goes.
And behind almost every successful Uruguian Footballer, there’s a glamorous wag as seen in the person of Vittoria Repetto (pictured with the love of her life below).
This is Vittoria Repetto, in an evening dinner with her husband.
Repetto met Torreira when he had just gotten from Italy from Uruguay, a time he enjoyed spells at Pescara and Sampdoria.
Beautiful Repetto is someone who would, at some point in time, decide not to do makeup in a bid to keep to her natural beauty.
Repetto at the time of writing, is a psychology student. She currently flies back and forth between England and Italy to take care of her boyfriend and university demands.
Settling into life in North London with her boyfriend, Beautiful takes her time to review modelling contracts. She is a model with a curvy body, one who is certainly not shy in front of the camera.
Did You Know?… One thing Repetto loves doing is showing off her endless holiday photos with her man. On social media networks, these lovers show off emotional images of them having fun at the beach sides.
The loved-up couple also enjoys nothing more than posing for selfies in beautiful locations.
Surprisingly, they’ve once been spotted enjoying corn on the cob together on the beach during a summer break.
Personal Life:
Lucas Torreira is seen as someone who values his humble beginnings more than anything in life.
The Baller appreciates his early days when a Vespa Motorcycle was all the Torreira family had. This is seen in the photo below.
Today, Lucas is known for being progressive, original, and independent. He stays connected with his family and close friends, including his former teammates Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal. Lucas dislikes feeling lonely and avoids dull or boring situations.
That one thing Lucas doesn’t mess around with is enjoying boat rides along with Repetto or with family members/friends.
Fact Check:
Thank you for reading Lucas Torreira’s story, a footballer determined to make a comeback in 2024 after being overlooked by Uruguay‘s Boss, Marcelo Bielsa. The Argentine manager chose to call up Manuel Ugarte instead of Torreira, but many fans believe that Ugarte and Torreira would make a great partnership on the field.
We strive for accuracy and fairness in our quest to deliver you Uruguayan Football Stories. The Life History of Rodrigo Bentancur and Darwin Nunez will interest you.
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