Alfredo S. di Stefano Laulhé
Nickname: Saeta Rubia ("Blond Arrow")
Argentinian
July 4, 1926 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
1943 - 1949 River Plate - 66 appearances, 50 goals
1946 - 1947 Huracán (loan) - 25 appearances, 11 goals
1949 - 1953 Millonarios - 294 appearances, 267 goals
1953 - 1964 Real Madrid - 282 appearances, 216 goals
1964 - 1966 Espanyol - 21 appearances, 9 goals
1947 Argentina - 6 appearances, 6 goals
1949 Colombia - 4 appearances, 0 goals
1957 - 1961 Spain - 31 appearances, 23 goals
River Plate
Primera División Argentina: 1945, 1947
Millonarios
Copa Bodas de Oro del Real Madrid: 1952
Colombian Championship: 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953
Colombian Cup: 1953
Real Madrid
La Liga: 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
Copa del Rey: 1962
European Cup: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960
Intercontinental Cup: 1960
Pequeña Copa del Mundo de Clubes: 1953, 1956
Latin Cup: 1955, 1957
Argentina
Copa América: 1947
1947
South American Player of Year
South American Top scorer
Argentine Top Scorer
1951
Colombian Top Scorer
South American Top scorer
1952
Colombian Top Scorer
1953
South American Player of Year
1954
Pichichi Trophy
1956
World Soccer Player of Year
Pichichi Trophy
1957
European Footballer of Year
Pichichi Trophy
World Soccer Player of Year
Spanish Player of Year
1958
Pichichi Trophy
European Cup Top Scorer
1959
European Footballer of Year
World Soccer Player of Year
Spanish Player of Year
Pichichi Trophy
1960
Spanish Player of Year
1962
Spanish Player of Year
1964
Spanish Player of Year
Alfredo Di Stefano is best known as one of the finest forwards to have ever played the game. His pace, power, stamina and vision are legendary and all contribited to his amazing goalscoring record throughout his career, most notably in Spain for Real Madrid where he is still the third highest scorer in the history of Spain's Primera Division and Real Madrid's alltime top goalscorer with 216 goals in 282 games.
Di Stefano's talent and versatility meant he wasn't confined to only playing as a forward however and due to his incredible technique he was equally at home in any position on the pitch.
Di Stefano's international career began with his homeland Argentina in 1947 when he played in Argentina's victorious Copa America campaign.
After moving to Colombian side Millonarios in 1949, Di Stefano played four times for the Colombian national side although these are not recognised by FIFA.
He played for a third country between 1957 and 1961, scoring 23 goals in 31 games for Spain after becoming a Spanish citizen in 1956. Injury just before the World Cup finals in 1962 finished Di Stefano's international career and he was ultimately never to grace world soccer's finest stage, the World Cup finals.
Alfredo Di Stefano began his professional football career with Argentina's River Plate as a 17 year old in 1943. With one season on loan to fellow Argentinian side Huracan in 1946 sandwiched in between, Di Stefano won two league titles with River Plate in 1945 and 1947 before an Argentinian players strike in 1949 saw him move to Colombian side Millionarios. Between 1949 and 1953 Di Stefano helped Millionarios to four league titles and a Colombian Cup, scoring 267 goals in 294 appearances for the club and cementing his reputation as one of the top players in South American club football.
Di Stefano's transfer to Spanish football in 1953 was fraught with controversy with problems over his ownership between River Plate and Millionarios and a deal initially with FC Barcelona ultimately falling through in shadowy circumstances before Real Madrid president Santiago Bernabeu could finally parade Di Stefano as a Real Madrid player.
Despite a slow start to his Madrid career, Di Stefano came to life a few games in against Barcelona, scoring a hat-trick, and ramping up the pressure and enmity between the two sides even further. In his eleven seasons at Real Madrid Alfredo Di Stefano became the catalyst to glory that the club had been searching for. Eight Spanish league titles, a Copa Del Rey and five back to back European Cup victories between 1956 and 1960 helped cement both Real Madrid and Alfredo Di Stefano's names into the football history books with the player adding two European Player of the Year awards to an already overflowing trophy cabinet.
Di Stefano's 216 goals in 282 games for Real Madrid is still a club record and his 49 goals in 58 European Cup games was a record that would surely never have been broken had it not been for the advent of the UEFA Champion's League with it's vastly increased number of games per club per season.
