London, Apr 20 (ANI): Ace striker Fernando Torres, who faces up to six weeks on the sidelines, is confident of spearheading Spain’s bid for success in South Africa. He has also ruled out reports about putting country before club.

Torres said he has not put World Cup glory with Spain before helping Liverpool end their miserable season on a high.

Torres again injured his knee, which first required surgery in January, in the opening skirmishes of the Europa League tie with Benfica at the start of the month.

And, he said the fact he played on until the closing stages scoring twice in the 4-1 win to set up Thursday’s semi-final showdown with his old club Atletico Madrid, proves his commitment to Liverpool, The Daily Express reports.

“It is not true I put country before club. We looked at all the options before coming to the last resort, which was surgery.

“The meniscus was damaged and the doctors decided we had to operate. The injury happened in the second minute of the game against Benfica at Anfield. I played 85 minutes injured,” said Torres.

“If I had been thinking only about the World Cup I would’ve asked to be taken off. I didn’t. I wanted to reach the Europa League final with my team. We have to be positive and think about the fact there’s still a World Cup to look forward to,” said Torres.

“This has been a hard year with injuries and it’s a pity not to have played more and scored more goals. Right now, the World Cup is the most important thing. You wait four years for it and, if things go well, I don’t expect to miss it,” he added. (ANI)