| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé | ||
| Date of birth | 4 July 1926 | ||
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder, Forward | ||
Nicknamed Saeta rubia (Blond arrow), was a powerful forward with great stamina and tactical versatility. He could also play anywhere on the pitch and despite being well-known as a forward, was great in defense. He is currently the 3rd highest scorer in the history of Spain’s top division, with 228 goals in 329 games. Di Stéfano is also Real Madrid’s highest league goalscorer of all time, with 216 goals in 282 league matches.
Club career:
Alfredo Di Stéfano born into a family of Italian immigrants from Nicolosi, near Catania. 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.
He moved to Espanyol in 1964 and played there until hanging up his boots at the age of 40.
Controversy surrounding transfer to Spain
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 Ramón 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 Marti Carreto also involved Barcelona chief scout Josep Samitier in the negotiations. Samitier, in his turn, brought in his Colombian friend, Joan Busquets, to speed up the talks with the Colombian club. Busquets, a director of Millonarios' rivals Santa Fé, seem 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 Carreto, 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 Carreto claiming Barcelona directors had allowed him to spend $20,000 but Carreto only accepted to offer $10,000 plus the player's debts.
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 Carreto 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 Carreto 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.
International career:
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
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 and FIFA declared Di Stéfano was not eligible to play because he had previously been capped by both Argentina and Colombia.
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 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. He retired from international football afterwards.
