Alfredo Di Stéfano (born July 4, 1926, at Barrancas , Argentina, from Italian immigrants), is an ex-footballer who also played international football for Argentina, Colombia, and, most famously, Spain. Di Stéfano was a powerful forward, considered by many to be one of the greatest of all time. Today, he is honorary president of Real Madrid.
His career started with River Plate in Argentina, in 1943. He won 6 league titles in the first 12 years of his career in Argentina and Colombia before moving to join Real Madrid, who took him from under Barcelona's nose. Although the Spanish FA decided that the two clubs should share Di Stéfano, Barça refused, and he became part of one of the most successful club sides of all time, winning 5 European Cups in a row with Real Madrid and scoring in each final.
Di Stéfano is undoubtably one of the greatest players never to grace a World Cup Finals tournament, missing out on his last chance through injury. After the disappointment of missing the World Cup, Di Stéfano moved to Espanyol and played there until his retirement at the age of 40.
After retirement, he moved into coaching. With Di Stéfano as coach, Valencia won the Spanish Cup in 1979, but he led Real Madrid to second place in five tournaments in 1983, losing the league title on the last day and being defeated in four cup finals!
Di Stéfano is currently the 3rd highest scorer in the history of Spain's top division, with 228 goals in 329 games, behind Hugo Sánchez (234 goals) and Telmo Zarra (251). Di Stéfano is also Real Madrid's highest league goalscorer of all time, with 216 goals in 282 league matches between 1953 and 1964.
Di Stéfano was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.
Trophies
- Argentinian Championship: 2 (1945, 1947)
- Colombian Championship: 4 (1949, 1951, 1952, 1953)
- Spanish Championship: 8 (1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964)
- Spanish Cup: 1 (1962)
- Latin Cup: 2 (1955, 1957)
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European Cup: 5 (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)
- Intercontinental Cup: 1 (1960)
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Copa América: 1 (1947)
- Argentinian League Top Scorer: 1 (1947)
- Colombian League Top Scorer: 1 (1951, 1952)
- Spanish League Top Scorer: 5 (1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959)
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European Footballer of the Year: 2 (1957, 1959)
International record
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Last updated: 08-31-2005 09:14:01
