Alfredo Di Stéfano

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Alfredo di Stefano Trophy)
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Alfredo Di Stéfano (disambiguation).
Alfredo Di Stéfano
Mcu Alfredo Di Stefano.jpg
Di Stéfano with the Argentina national team.
Personal information
Full name Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé[1]
Date of birth (1926-07-04) 4 July 1926 (age 86)
Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1945–1949 River Plate 66 (49)
1946 → Huracán (loan) 24 (11)
1949–1953 Millonarios 102 (90)
1953–1964 Real Madrid 282 (216)
1964–1966 Espanyol 47 (11)
Total 521 (377)
National team
1947 Argentina 6 (6)
1949 Colombia 4 (0)
1957–1961 Spain 31 (23)
Teams managed
1967–1968 Elche
1969–1970 Boca Juniors
1970–1974 Valencia
1974–1974 Sporting CP
1975–1976 Rayo Vallecano
1976–1977 Castellón
1979–1980 Valencia
1981–1982 River Plate
1982–1984 Real Madrid
1985 Boca Juniors
1986–1988 Valencia
1990–1991 Real Madrid
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Di Stéfano and the second or maternal family name is Laulhé.

Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé[2] (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈfɾeðo ði (e)sˈtefano]; born 4 July 1926 in Barracas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires) is a former Argentine footballer and coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.[3][4][5][6] He is most associated with Real Madrid and was instrumental in their domination of the European Champions' Cup during the 1950s, a period in which the club won the trophy in five consecutive seasons from 1956. Along with Francisco Gento, he was one of only two players to play a part in all five victories. Di Stéfano played international football mostly for Spain, but he also played for Argentina and Colombia.

Di Stéfano, nicknamed "Saeta rubia" ("blond arrow"),[7][8][9] was a powerful forward with great stamina, tactical versatility, and vision, who could also play almost anywhere on the pitch. He is currently the 4th highest scorer in the history of Spain's top division, and Real Madrid's 2nd highest league goalscorer of all time, with 216 goals in 282 league matches between 1953 and 1964.

In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Spain by the Royal Spanish Football Federation as their most outstanding player of the past 50 years.[10] He was named by Pelé as one of the "top 125 greatest living footballers" in March 2004 (in September 2009 he said Di Stéfano was the best Argentinian player "ever").[11] Di Stéfano was voted fourth, behind Pelé, Diego Maradona, and Johan Cruyff, in a vote organized by the French weekly magazine France Football consulting their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century.[12]

Former players such as Pelé, Eusébio, Luis Suárez, Sandro Mazzola and John Charles described Di Stéfano as "the most complete footballer in the history of the game".[13]

Contents

Club playing career [edit]

Born in Barracas, a neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Di Stéfano is the son of Alfredo Di Stéfano, a first-generation Italian Argentine (his father Michele emigrated to Argentina from Capri in the 19th century), and Eulalia Laulhé Gilmont, an Argentine woman of French and Irish descent.[14][15] He began his career at Argentina's River Plate aged 17, in 1943. For the 1946 season he was loaned to Club Atlético Huracán, but he returned to River in 1947. Due to a footballer's strike in Argentina in 1949, Di Stéfano went to play for Millonarios of Bogotá in the Colombian league. He won six league titles during the first 12 years of his career in Argentina and Colombia.

Di Stéfano playing with River Plate in 1947.

Di Stéfano is best known for his time at Real Madrid where he was an integral part of one of the most successful teams of all time. He scored (then a club record, now surpassed by Raúl Gonzalez) 216 league goals in 262 games for Real, striking up a fearsome partnership with Ferenc Puskás. Di Stéfano's 49 goals in 58 matches was for decades the all-time highest tally in the European Cup, until it was surpassed by Real Madrid's Raúl in 2005, and Milan's Andriy Shevchenko and Real Madrid's Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006. Di Stéfano scored in five consecutive European Cup finals for Real Madrid between 1956 and 1960, including a hat-trick in the latter. Perhaps the highlight of his time with the club was their 7–3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 European Cup Final at Hampden Park, a game many consider to be the finest exhibition of club football ever witnessed in Europe. He was voted European Footballer of the Year in 1957 and 1959.

He moved to Espanyol in 1964 and played there until hanging up his boots at the age of 40.

Controversy surrounding transfer to Spain [edit]

Di Stéfano's transfer to Spain would prove controversial. The mission to secure the signing of Di Stéfano to Barcelona had first been given to the Catalan Ramon Trias Fargas, who, besides being a lawyer and expert in commercial law, was the son of one of the share-holders of Millonarios, where Di Stéfano was playing at the time. According to Trias Fargas, Barcelona's own management effectively obstructed the transfer when club president Enric Martí i Carreto also involved Barcelona chief scout Josep Samitier in the negotiations. Samitier, in his turn, brought in Joan Busquets-Baró, a Catalan acquaintance living in Colombia, to speed up the talks with the Colombian club (and according to Finestres & Luque,[16] with Di Stéfano himself). Busquets, a director of Millonarios' rivals Santa Fe, seems to have tried more to sabotage the deal than to secure it. After issuing a harsh ultimatum to Millonarios to accept a modest offer for the player he organized Di Stéfano's defection from Colombia when the ultimatum was rejected, despite Di Stéfano owing the club money. River Plate, who owned the rights of the player from 1955 onwards, had accepted the transfer on the condition that Millonarios also agreed upon the transfer, which they, after what they perceived as Busquets' bullying tactics, weren't interested in doing. Trias Fargas' negotiations with the Colombians regarding a transfer sum were also breaking down when Enric Martí, despite assurances to Trias Fargas that he would pay whatever price Trias Fargas thought necessary, rejected a figure whenever it was agreed between the lawyer and the Colombians. Trias Fargas blamed Enric Martí, claiming Barcelona directors had allowed him to spend $20,000 but Carreto only accepted to offer $10,000 plus the player's debts.

In 1953, Di Stéfano signed a deal with Barcelona, and FIFA, who didn't know anything about Di Stéfano having left Millonarios without permission, authorized the transfer from River Plate. The Spanish Federation, however, did not recognize the deal. According to Andres Ramírez, the Spanish Football Federation secretary, both Millonarios (who owned the rights of the player until the end of 1954, according to the agreements reached in the Lima Pact) and River Plate's consent were needed in order for Di Stéfano to sign up with a Spanish club. Indeed Millonarios had reported FIFA the anomalous situation of the Argentinian, so FIFA itself demanded the Spanish Federation to solve the problem. On 22 May 1953,[17] he arrived in Spain to conclude his contract with Barcelona but during the discussions with the Federation, Real Madrid's president Santiago Bernabéu, acting upon the apparent division within the Barcelona management, convinced him to sign for them instead.

During the parallel negotiations between the two Spanish clubs and Millonarios, the Spanish Federation issued a ban on foreign players in the Spanish league. On 15 September, the Spanish Federation made public the decision, which club presidents Martí and Bernabéu had signed, to allow Di Stéfano four seasons in Spain – two for each team, to be played alternately. The agreement created such a storm of protests by the rest of the Barcelona management and the fans that Martí resigned a week later. The reasons for Barcelona's decision to let the player go to Madrid are disputed by the two clubs. This incident exacerbated the traditional enmity between the two clubs.[18]

Testimonial match [edit]

One year after his retirement as footballer, a testimonial match was held on 7 June 1967 and played for a trophy which named after himself. The Alfredo Di Stéfano Trophy or Alfredo Di Stéfano Cup was won by Celtic of Scotland. The trophy was contested in a match between Real Madrid and Celtic at Real's Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. The match took place 2 weeks after Celtic's victory in the European Cup 1967. Celtic won the match 0–1, with Bobby Lennox scoring the victory.

International playing career [edit]

Di Stéfano played with three different national teams during his career: he played six times with the Argentine national team, twice with Colombia (not recognized by FIFA) and 31 times with the Spanish national team. However, he never played in the World Cup Finals.

World Cup absence [edit]

The first World Cup in which he would have been able to participate was the 1950 tournament. As Argentina refused to participate, Di Stéfano (aged 24) missed his first chance at playing in the World Cup.

For the 1954 World Cup, Argentina did not enter once more and FIFA declared Di Stéfano was not eligible to play because he had previously been capped by both Argentina and Colombia.[citation needed]

He acquired Spanish citizenship in 1956, and played four World Cup qualifying matches for Spain in 1957, but the team failed to qualify for the 1958 World Cup.

In 1961, Di Stéfano (36) who had already won 5 European Cups, helped Spain qualify for the World Cup of 1962. A muscular injury just before the competition prevented him from playing in the finals.[19] He retired from international football afterwards.

Managerial career [edit]

Di Stéfano's memorabilia at the Real Madrid museum

After retirement, he moved into coaching. He guided the Argentine clubs Boca Juniors and River Plate to league titles, and won La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Valencia as well as the European Cup Winners' Cup with the side in 1980. He also managed Sporting in the 1974/75 season and Real Madrid between 1982 and 1984. The 1982–83 was catastrophic for Real, they finished second in La Liga and were defeated finalists in the Supercopa de España, Copa de la Liga and Copa del Rey. Madrid were also beaten by immense underdogs Aberdeen in the European Cup Winners' Cup final. Out of five possible trophies, Real Madrid collected five runners' up titles.

After retirement [edit]

Di Stéfano currently resides in Spain. On 5 November 2000 he was named Honorary President of Real Madrid.

On 24 December 2005, 79-year-old Di Stéfano suffered a heart attack.[20]

On 9 May 2006, the Alfredo di Stéfano Stadium was inaugurated at the City of Real Madrid, where Real Madrid usually trains. The inaugural match was between Real Madrid and Stade de Reims, a rematch of the European Cup final won by Real Madrid in 1956. Real Madrid won the inaugural match 6–1 with goals from Sergio Ramos, Antonio Cassano (2), Roberto Soldado (2), and José Manuel Jurado.

Career statistics [edit]

International goals for Argentina [edit]


# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 4 December 1947 Estadio George Capwell, Guayaquil, Ecuador  Bolivia 6–0 7–0 1947 South American Championship
2. 11 December 1947 Estadio George Capwell, Guayaquil, Ecuador  Peru 2–1 3–2 1947 South American Championship
3. 16 December 1947 Estadio George Capwell, Guayaquil, Ecuador  Chile 1–0 1–1 1947 South American Championship
4. 18 December 1947 Estadio George Capwell, Guayaquil, Ecuador  Colombia 2–0 6–0 1947 South American Championship
5. 18 December 1947 Estadio George Capwell, Guayaquil, Ecuador  Colombia 5–0 6–0 1947 South American Championship
6. 18 December 1947 Estadio George Capwell, Guayaquil, Ecuador  Colombia 6–0 6–0 1947 South American Championship

International goals for Spain [edit]


# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 30 January 1957 Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain  Netherlands 1–0 5–1 International friendly
2. 30 January 1957 Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain  Netherlands 3–0 5–1 International friendly
3. 30 January 1957 Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain  Netherlands 5–0 5–1 International friendly
4. 31 March 1957 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium  Belgium 1–0 5–0 International friendly
5. 31 March 1957 King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium  Belgium 4–0 5–0 International friendly
6. 24 November 1957 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland  Switzerland 1–0 4–1 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 9)
7. 24 November 1957 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland  Switzerland 3–0 4–1 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 9)
8. 13 April 1958 Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain  Portugal 1–0 1–0 International friendly
9. 28 February 1959 Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy  Italy 1–1 1–1 International friendly
10. 28 June 1959 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland  Poland 2–1 4–2 1960 European Nations' Cup Q
11. 28 June 1959 Silesian Stadium, Chorzów, Poland  Poland 4–1 4–2 1960 European Nations' Cup Q
12. 14 October 1959 Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain  Poland 1–0 3–0 1960 European Nations' Cup Q
13. 22 November 1959 Estadio Mestalla, Valencia, Spain  Austria 4–2 6–3 International friendly
14. 22 November 1959 Estadio Mestalla, Valencia, Spain  Austria 5–2 6–3 International friendly
15. 13 March 1960 Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain  Italy 2–1 3–1 International friendly
16. 10 July 1960 Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru  Peru 1–0 3–1 International friendly
17. 14 July 1960 Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Ñuñoa, Chile  Chile 1–0 4–0 International friendly
18. 14 July 1960 Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Ñuñoa, Chile  Chile 2–0 4–0 International friendly
19. 17 July 1960 Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Ñuñoa, Chile  Chile 1–0 4–1 International friendly
20. 17 July 1960 Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Ñuñoa, Chile  Chile 2–0 4–1 International friendly
21. 19 April 1961 Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales  Wales 2–1 2–1 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
22. 11 June 1961 Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Sevilla, Spain  Argentina 2–0 2–0 International friendly
23. 23 November 1961 Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, Spain  Morocco 2–1 3–2 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
River Plate 1944 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1945 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Huracán 1946 24 11 0 0 0 0 24 11
Total 24 11 0 0 0 0 24 11
River Plate 1947 30 27 0 0 0 0 30 27
1948 23 13 0 0 6 4 29 17
1949 12 9 0 0 0 0 12 9
Total 65 49 0 0 6 4 71 53
Millonarios 1949 15 16 0 0 0 0 15 16
1950 29 23 ? ? 0 0 29+ 23+
1951 34 32 ? ? 0 0 34+ 32+
1952 24 19 ? ? 0 0 24+ 19+
Total 102 90 ? 10 0 0 102+ 100
Real Madrid 1953–54 28 27 0 0 0 0 28 27
1954–55 30 25 0 0 2 0 32 25
1955–56 30 24 0 0 7 5 37 29
1956–57 30 31 3 3 10 9 43 43
1957–58 30 19 7 7 7 10 44 36
1958–59 30 23 8 5 7 6 43 34
1959–60 23 12 5 3 6 8 34 23
1960–61 23 21 9 8 4 1 36 30
1961–62 23 11 8 4 10 7 41 22
1962–63 13 12 9 8 2 1 24 21
1963–64 24 11 1 1 9 5 34 17
Total 282 216 50 39 64 52 396 307
Espanyol 1964–65 24 7 1+ 1 0 0 25+ 8
1965–66 23 4 1+ 1 6 0 30+ 5
Total 47 11 2+ 2 6 0 55+ 13
Career totals 521 377 64 51 76 56 661 484

Honours [edit]

National Team [edit]

Club [edit]

Individual honours [edit]

Manager [edit]

References [edit]

General
  • (Autobiography) Di Stéfano, Alfredo (2000). Gracias, Vieja: Las Memorias del Mayor Mito del Futbol. Madrid: Aguilar. ISBN 84-03-09200-8. 
Specific
  1. ^ (Spanish) "Di Stéfano Profile". Yahoo! Deportes España. 
  2. ^ (Spanish) "Di Stéfano Profile". Realmadrid.com. 
  3. ^ IFFHS' Century Elections. Rsssf.com (30 January 2000). Retrieved on 31 March 2013.
  4. ^ "The Best of The Best". Rsssf.com (19 June 2009). Retrieved on 31 March 2013.
  5. ^ Alfredo Di Stéfano: The greatest footballer of all time?. Bleacher Report. Retrieved on 31 March 2013.
  6. ^ Football's Greatest – Alfredo Di Stefano. youtube.com
  7. ^ (Spanish) "The birth of the Saeta Rubia". Clarin. 16 July 2005. Archived from the original on 13 December 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2008. 
  8. ^ "Saeta Rubia (Movie)". Retrieved 1 December 2008. 
  9. ^ "Alfredo di Stefano – Saeta Rubia". AlbionRoad.com. 27 June 2008. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2008. 
  10. ^ Golden Players take centre stage. UEFA.com (29 November 2003).
  11. ^ "Pele hits back in Maradona spat". BBC News. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2010. 
  12. ^ "RSSSF.com – Various Lists of 'Players of the Century/All-Time'". 
  13. ^ "Football world honors Real Madrid legend Di Stefano". China Daily. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2010. 
  14. ^ Brian Glanville, Soccer. A history of the game: its players, and its strategy, Crown Publishers 1968, p. 154
  15. ^ "Legends: Alfredo Di Stefano". realmadrid-football.blogspot.it. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2013. 
  16. ^ Jordi Finestres & Xavier G. Luque; El cas di Stefano, Edicions 62, Barcelona 2005.
  17. ^ "El Jugador Di Stéfano ha llegado a España para incorporarse al C. de F. Barcelona", La Vanguardia, 23 May 1953, p. 18.
  18. ^ Jimmy Burns: Barça, a people's passion, Bloomsbury Publishing, London 1999
  19. ^ "1962 World Cup report by CBC/Radio Canada web site". Cbc.ca. Retrieved 23 June 2012. 
  20. ^ Di Stefano in serious condition, BBC News, 25 December 2005.

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alfredo Di Stefano
Argentina
Spain squad – 1962 FIFA World Cup
Spain
Authority control

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alfredo_Di_Stéfano&oldid=547929142#Alfredo_Di_St.C3.A9fano_Trophy"