RUSTENBURG, South Africa: Spain's Fernando Torres was the fans' favorite on Sunday with his name scrawled on banners and printed on replica shirts even before his team played New Zealand in the Confederations Cup.

The blond-haired striker then scored a 17-minute hat-trick in Spain's 5-0 rout of the Kiwis in Group A and said he loved the fact that the locals had adopted him and Spain as their favorites.

"I would like to thank all the Africans here," Torres said. "It's great. It almost feels like home and it's good to be in a team which is winning fans all over the world.