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Football Profile, Alfredo Di Stéfano

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mAKiTO Colombia4175 Posts July 08 2007 19:50 GMT #1 Disclaimer: I did not write this myself, I looked all the information that I could find about this player and present it here to you, I hope that you enjoy it. Imagine a player as good as Gerd Mueller as goal-scorer, as accomplished as Michel Platini as playmaker, as strong as Giacinto Facchetti in the tackle. Imagine a player even more versatile than "the total footballer" Johan Cruyff, more commanding than "Der Kaiser" Franz Beckenbauer. Imagine such qualities all seen in one player. And the player has the energy of two men to express such a talent. That must be an awesome scene. Arguably the most complete footballer of all time. Physically powerful, with unparalleled stamina, amazing skills and unwavering determination to win. He was capped by three countries, but ironically failed to take part in a World Cup! His other achievements were sensational enough to warrant him a place among the top players in the history. Alfredo Di Stéfano (born July 4, 1926 in Barracas, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-born former footballer and coach. He is most associated with Real Madrid, and with Ferenc Puskás was instrumental in their domination of the European Cup of Champions during the 1950s, a period in which the club won the trophy in five consecutive seasons from 1956. Di Stéfano also played international football for Argentina, Colombia, and Spain. Club playing career Born to a family of Italian immigrants, though with an Irish maternal grandmother, 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 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 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 a club record 216 league goals in 262 games for Real, striking up a fearsome partnership with Ferenc Puskas. 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 Chelsea's Andriy Shevchenko (then playing for A.C. Milan) and Real Madrid's Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2006. 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. Stats at Clubs What Happened with world cups? Although Di Stéfano had been an international for more than 15 years since 1947 and played for three countries, he never play in the World Cup. Do you know why? WORLD CUP A competition Di Stéfano did not grace In 1950, when Di Stéfano was playing for Argentina, the country did not want to take part in the World Cup. In 1954, he had gone to Spain and since he played for both Argentina and Colombia before, FIFA declared him not eligible to play for Spain. Di Stéfano was not granted permission to play for Spain until 1956 and make his Spanish debut, at the age of 31, in 1957. So he could not feature in any World Cup matches for his newly adopted country until the 1958 qualifying games. But Spain did not qualify for the 1958 World Cup. When he finally got his chance in 1962, he was injured. In 1966, Di Stéfano was already 40 years old and therefore ended up not playing a single game in the soccer's greatest competition. Better than Pele and Maradona Why he was the best... "Alfredo Di Stéfano was the greatest footballer of all time - far better even than Pelé. He was, simultaneously, the anchor in defence, the playmaker in midfield, and the most dangerous marksman in attack." Helenio Herrera, former coach of the Internazionale team and one of the greatest coaches of all time Comparing him with the best... "I don't know if I had been a better player than Pelé, but I can say without any doubt that Di Stéfano was better than Pelé. I am proud when one speaks of Di Stéfano. Pelé would have flopped had he played in Europe, whereas Alfredo has played very well throughout the world. I can say that Maradona could be worse than Pelé. But I emphasize Di Stéfano was better". Diego Maradona, former Argentina superstar told RAI, the Italian national television, in 1997. His extraordinary versatility... "The greatness of Di Stéfano was that, with him in your side, you had two players in every position." Miguel Muñoz, Di Stéfano's coach at Real Madrid and the most successful coach produced by Spain. His leadership and tactical brilliance... "No other player so effectively combined individual expertise with an all-embracing ability to organize a team to play to his command. He was "total soccer" personified before the term had been invented. Di Stéfano remains to many of us the Greatest Footballer of All Time." Keir Radnedge, editor of the World Soccer magazine, and perhaps the world's most respected soccer journalist. Legacy he left behind... "In Madrid, the field at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium leans to the left because Alfredo Di Stéfano had played so much on this side." The Spanish Press tried describing the extraordinary impact he made at Real Madrid. "He is arguably the best post-war player and possibly the greatest of all time. His phenomenal stamina enabled him to play flat-out for 90 minutes - a quality that was beyond even the genius of Pele. He had the body and the brain to allow the game to flow through him." Graham Hart, editor of the Guiness Football Encyclopedia "The greatest all-round player of them all, he was a revelation in his inexhaustible ability to be everywhere on the field, scoring a goal one minute, making a crucial defensive play the next, always at the heart of the game." Paul Gardner, top soccer writer and TV commentator in USA. His technical excellence... "In the opinion of many good judges, the greatest all-round player of all. A center-forward who could not only score goals, but would glide all over the field, doing any job that has to be done with total assurance." Steve Tongue, author of World Football. Honors Team honours * Argentinian Championship: 2 (1945, 1947) * Colombian Championship: 4 (1949, 1951, 1952, 1953) * Copa Bodas de Oro del Real Madrid: 1 (1952) * Pequeña Copa del Mundo de Clubes: 2 (1953, 1956) * Spanish Championship: 8 (1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962,1963, 1964) * Spanish Cup: 1 (1962) * Latin Cup: 2 (1955, 1957) * European Cup: 5 (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960) * Intercontinental Cup: 1 (1960) * Copa América: 1 (1947) Individual honours * Argentine League Top Scorer: 1 (1947) * Colombian League Top Scorer: 2 (1951, 1952) * Spanish League Top Scorer: 5 (1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959) * European Footballer of the Year: 2 (1957, 1959) * Super Ballon d'Or: 1989 Quotes The Importance of Goals... "A soccer game without goals is like an afternoon without sunshine." Di Stéfano. He scored over 800 goals in his career. His playing style... "We are all footballers, and as such should be able to perform competently in all 11 positions." Di Stéfano. Alfredo was the most complete soccer player of all-time. What footballer he admires... "The best player I saw in my life was Adolfo Pedernera. Undoubtedly Maradona was exceptional, fantastic. The best for years. One can also not ignore Pelé. For heaven's sake, although it is difficult to make comparisons, Pedernera was a very complete player who can play in the whole pitch." Di Stéfano. Like Di Stéfano, Pedernera has been underrated by the subsequent generations of soccer fans. What soccer meant to him... "The ball gave me prestige, gave me fame, gave me riches. Thank you, my old friend. Because the ball I have a wonderful family, I have a son that plays soccer..." Di Stéfano. Why he had one of the most powerful left-footed shots "I was right-footed, so my father didn't let me play unless I would shoot the ball with my left foot." Di Stéfano. Videos Links Most of the Info came from Here, this is a great site about him that everything you would want to know about this great player. My Thoughts Well, when I was growing up all all my friends knew about Pele and Maradona, and very little of Distefano. My dad was a great Fan of Alfredo, So I was always hearing about him, and thats how I got interested in this player. To me, Comparing players from different Timelines, is kinda stupid, because the game changes with time and so do the players. To me when Alfredo was active during his prime, there were no better players than him period. He is my favorite player of all time =] my list goes 1-Alfredo 2-Diego 3-Pele

zulu_nation8 China26351 Posts July 08 2007 23:30 GMT #2 good article

Raidern Brazil3811 Posts July 16 2007 07:15 GMT #3 nice post idiot! but you are all messed, its the other way around: pele, diego, cruyff. oops, where is distefano? :D

Raidern Brazil3811 Posts July 19 2007 11:23 GMT #4 i'm stil waiting for more!!!!

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