“When You Are A Child And You Dream Of These Things, Everything Seems Very Far Away” – Lucas Torreira Inspires Nigerian Youths to read more of this story.
Starting, 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 was not in any way held hostage by their middle-class family background.
Asides his parents and relatives, Lucas grew up with his sisters Ana and Pitu Torreira and brothers namely; Brahian and Bebo Torreira.
In his tiny Uruguayan town of Fray Bentos on a summer evening, you can cycle through tranquil beaches especially at sunsets. Right from his childhood till date, Lucas had always love to experience the yellow fading sunset alone with his mum, who is a housekeeper.
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.
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 a butcher’s shops for his family. He named it ‘La 34’ after his shirt number at Sampdoria, his Italian club.
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. To start his professional journey, Lucas decided to enrol for his local team, 18 de Julio who allowed him 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 Rocky Journey: Lucas’ quest to visit 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 lodge 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.
Lucas decided to keep a mixture of gratitude and emotion to his boyhood club. This happened after he was being accepted back like a prodigal son after his failed move. That old gratitude is today permanently fixed 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.
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 hardening 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.
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 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.
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. it’s something that I have earned through a lot of sacrifices. I want to share happiness with all of them because they saw me grow up, they know how difficult everything was for me.”
