Player Profile: Alfredo Di Stefano

Alfredo Di Stefano

4th July 1926.

Country: Argentina

Major Clubs: River Plate, Millonarios, Real Madrid, Espanyol

Though you can read his nationality as Argentine, Di Stefano played for three different countries during his gilttering career as a footballer - Argentina, Columbia and Spain. However, he did not play at the World Cup finals even once.

He started his professional career at the age of 17 by playing for River Plate in Buenos Aires where he was born, and from there the journey of this legend started as he only made more than just a mark on Millonarios, Real Madrid and finally Espanyol. His journey from the Americas to Spain has been followed so much in Spain, that a Spanish movie titled as his nickname, "Saeta Rubia", has been produced to portray his life in Spain.

The list of his honours is never ending but what one always remembers him for is his pivotal role in Real Madrid's European success in 1950's. Also, it was the Spanish giants who asked Di Stefano to convert his citizenship to Spanish, so they could utilize their foreign spot for the newly signed Raymond Kopa. The 11 years he spent at Madrid were probably the golden years of his career, as he led a powerful line up from the front, with other star players such as Raymond Kopa, Ferenc Puskas, Francisco Gento, et al.

Di Stefano is essentially considered to be the best 'all-rounder' of all time. Yes, we're still talking about football, nothing else. The remarkable stamina and agility he possessed helped him to be an all-rounder of sorts, on the field. He could roam anywhere over the length of the pitch owing to these qualities, which allowed him to even defend, distribute the ball, give orders to other players and of course, score goals. His presence on the field was so crucial, that his former coach at Madrid, Miguel Munoz said, "The greatness of Di Stefano was that, with him in your side, you had two players in every position."

Apart from the other qualities Saeta Rubia flaunted, his main quality was very straightforward - to take the ball and out it in the back of the net. He scored 307 goals in 397 appearances at Madrid, and won the Pichichi award for scoring the highest goals in a La Liga season five times during his career there. Post Madrid, Di Stefano moved to Espanyol in 1964. He did decently at the Catalan outfit, and two seasons later, he retired from football as a player.

However, he was still connected to the game. He later went on to manage clubs such as Elche, Boca Juniors, Valencia, Real Madrid, Sporting Lisbon, Rayo Vallecano, Castellon and River Plate. In 1990, while he was still managing Real Madrid, he was appointed as the advisor to the president of Los Merengues.

Only a year later he was appointed as the president of the former players of Real Madrid. His contribution to the club's administration didn't end there either, as in 2000, he was appointed as the honorary president of the Spanish giants. In 2006, to respect his contribution to the Los Blancos, the "Alfredo Di Stefano stadium" was inaugrated, and is the stadium which the first team uses to train.

Written for India's premier football magazine: 90 minutes (July 2011)

-PRANAV MUKUL