Superstitious Torres believes No3 rituals behind his success

London, July 11 (ANI): Striker Fernando Torres, who won Euro 2008 for Spain, like many great sportsmen, is highly superstitious because he believes that his number three rituals are the secret to his success.

Liverpool's strike sensation Torres insists on doing everything in triplicate. Before each game he has three shirts, three shorts, three pairs of socks and three lots of boots laid out.

Then, he always crosses himself three times before walking onto the pitch, the Daily Star reported.

At the moment he cannot wear the number 3 shirt for Liverpool because it belongs to Republic of Ireland defender Steve Finnan.

But if Finnan heads to Aston Villa to make way for 27-year-old Gareth Barry, the shirt will be available. Part of Torres' contract stresses that he must wear the number 9 shirt because it is divisible by three.

The Spaniard has just completed work on his three-storey home, worth 900,000 pounds in Liverpool.

A Liverpool source revealed: "Just like many great sportsmen, Nando is highly superstitious because he believes his number three rituals are the secret to his success. Nobody was srprised when he ordered three games rooms at his house." (ANI)