Alfredo Di Stéfano

Alfredo Di Stéfano

Birth : 1926-07-04, Buenos Aires City, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Death : 2014-07-07

History

Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé (4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine-born professional footballer and coach, regarded as one of the best footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta rubia" ("Blond Arrow"), he was a powerful, quick, skillful, and prolific forward, with great stamina, tactical versatility, creativity, and vision, who could play almost anywhere on the pitch. He is best known for his achievements with Real Madrid, where he was instrumental in the club's domination of the European Cup and La Liga during the 1950s. Along with Francisco Gento and José María Zárraga, he was one of only three players to play a part in all five victories, scoring goals in each of the five finals. Di Stéfano played international football mostly for Spain after moving to Madrid, but he also played for Argentina and Colombia. Di Stéfano 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 footballers' 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. Following his signing by Real Madrid he was an integral part of one of the most successful teams of all time. He scored 216 league goals in 282 games for Real (then a club record), striking up a successful partnership with Ferenc Puskás. Di Stéfano's 49 goals in 58 matches was the all-time highest tally in the European Cup. The record has since been surpassed by several players, with Real Madrid's Raúl the first in 2005. Di Stéfano scored in five consecutive European Cup finals for Real Madrid between 1956 and 1960, including a hat-trick in the last. 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 moved to Espanyol in 1964 and played there until retiring at the age of 40. Di Stéfano was awarded the Ballon d'Or for the European Footballer of the Year in 1957 and 1959. He is currently the sixth highest scorer in the history of Spain's top division, and Real Madrid's third highest league goalscorer of all time. He is Madrid's leading goalscorer in the history of El Clásico, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. 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. He was voted fourth, behind Pelé, Diego Maradona, and Johan Cruyff, in a vote organized by France Football magazine which consulted their former Ballon d'Or winners to elect the Football Player of the Century. In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. In 2008 Di Stéfano was honoured by both UEFA and Real Madrid with a special Presidents award issued by FIFA at a ceremony in Madrid, where a statue was also unveiled. Then UEFA President Michel Platini called Di Stéfano "a great amongst the greats" while contemporaries Eusébio and Just Fontaine suggested that he was "the most complete footballer in the history of the game". From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Profile

Alfredo Di Stéfano
Alfredo Di Stéfano

Movies

Enrique Herreros
Himself - Former Football Player
The story of Enrique Herreros (1903-1977), cartoonist, advertiser, poster designer, talent manager, actor, producer and filmmaker, and the most daring of mountaineers; the man who, along with his companions from the so-called “other Generation of '27,” brought Hollywood to Madrid's Gran Vía, turning a grey and sinister post-war city into the capital of an incipient and ambitious cultural industry.
Argentina... Argentina...
Self
Real: The Movie
Self
Five story strands -- some real, some fictionalized -- comprise this officially sanctioned film of Real Madrid, the second richest soccer club in the world.
Zinédine Zidane - Comme dans un rêve
Self
An exhaustive retrospective commented by Zidane, his greatest goals, soccer lessons where Zidane reveals his most precious secrets.
Eusébio: Um jogador de todos os tempos
Alfredo Di Stéfano
A profile of the legendary soccer player Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, with footage of his career and a comprehensive list of interviews of former colleagues and other football legends, journalists, writers and politicians.
La batalla del domingo
Self
Alfredo Di Stéfano plays himself, not as a soccer player but as a man, husband and father. This is a personal portrait of the mythical athlete, in the decline of his career. Film made to the greater glory of the football player Alfredo Di Stefano. In principle it is a portrait of manners of the life of the athlete at the time of professional retirement. Filmed by Luis Marquina, " The Battle of Sunday " mixes the form of a conventional film with the topics of biographical documentaries. However, the film was an important public success, given the importance of Di Stefano in Spanish football.
The Sea
A well known actor comes to off-season Capri to unwind and meets a young man. The attraction is immediate and mutual but before their relationship can get off the ground, an alluring woman with a spontaneous sexuality and care free attitude joins the triangle and the boy is slowly pushed out of the picture.
Saeta rubia
Alfredo Di Stéfano
Some urchins simulate an accident and steal a wallet. To their surprise, it turns out to be that of the famous footballer Alfredo Di Stefano, popularly known as "La Saeta Rubia". Driven by the admiration for their idol, the urchins decide to return it. At this time, Di Stefano and his wife establish a great friendship with the guys and project together the creation of the football team "Saeta".
Eleven Pairs of Boots
Futbolista
Ignacio, a professional footballer, has sentimental and labor problems. His girlfriend is about to abandon him because of the constant displays of affection that the player receives from an attractive admirer. At the same time, Ignacio discovers that two of his teammates have been bribed by another team.
Con los mismos colores