Alfredo Di Stéfano

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Di Stéfano and the second or maternal family name is Laulhé.

Alfredo Di Stéfano
Di Stefano with Real Madrid in 1959
Personal information
Full name Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé[1]
Date of birth (1926-07-04)4 July 1926
Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina
Date of death 7 July 2014(2014-07-07) (aged 88)
Place of death Madrid, Spain
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Forward, midfielder
Youth career
1940–1943 Unión Progresista
1944–1945 River Plate
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1945–1949 River Plate 66 (49)
1945–1946 → Huracán (loan) 25 (10)
1949–1953 Millonarios 101 (90)
1953–1964 Real Madrid 282 (216)
1964–1966 Espanyol 47 (11)
Total 521 (376)
International career
1947 Argentina 6 (6)
1951 Colombia 4 (0)
1957–1961 Spain 31 (23)
Managerial career
1967–1968 Elche
1969–1970 Boca Juniors
1970–1974 Valencia
1974 Sporting CP
1975–1976 Rayo Vallecano
1976–1977 Castellón
1979–1980 Valencia
1981–1982 River Plate
1982–1984 Real Madrid
1985 Boca Juniors
1986–1988 Valencia
1990–1991 Real Madrid
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Argentina
Copa América
Winner 1947 Ecuador
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé[2] (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈfɾeðo ðjesˈtefano]; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine and naturalised Spanish professional footballer and manager who played as a forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.[3][4][5] Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia" ("Blond Arrow"),[8] 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 and 1960s. Along with Francisco Gento and José María Zárraga, he was one of only three players to play a part in all five European Cup victories, scoring goals in each of the five finals. Di Stéfano played international football mostly for Spain after moving to Madrid and becoming a naturalised citizen, 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. He won Copa America in 1947 with Argentina. Due to a footballers' strike in Argentina in 1949, Di Stéfano went to play for Millonarios of Bogotá in the Colombian league.[9] He won six league titles during the first 12 years of his career in Argentina and Colombia.[10][11] 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, since surpassed by Raúl, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema), 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, including the aforementioned Real Madrid trio. 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 final at Hampden Park, a game many consider to be the finest exhibition of club football ever witnessed in Europe.[9] He moved to Espanyol in 1964 and played there until retiring at the age of 40.[11]

Di Stéfano was awarded the Ballon d'Or for the European Footballer of the Year in 1957 and 1959.[10] He is currently the seventh highest scorer in the history of Spain's top division, and Real Madrid's fourth highest league goalscorer of all time. He is Madrid's leading goalscorer in the history of El Clásico, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.[12][13] 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.[14] 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.[15] In 2004, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players (in September 2009, he said Di Stéfano was the best player "ever").[16] 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".[17]

  1. ^ "di Stéfano Profile" (in Spanish). Yahoo! Deportes España. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Di Stéfano Profile" (in Spanish). Realmadrid.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Di Stefano, architect of Real Madrid legend". Reuters. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
  4. ^ Ken Salón (8 March 2025). "Part 1: Greatest footballers in history". 90soccer. Archived from the original on 8 March 2025. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
  5. ^ "Alfredo di Stéfano: A true titan of the game, regarded by many as its greatest ever exponent". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  6. ^ "The birth of the Saeta Rubia" (in Spanish). Clarin. 16 July 2005. Archived from the original on 13 December 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Guardian obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ [6][7]
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NY Times obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ a b "Alfredo Di Stefano, celebrated soccer player, dies at 88". The Washington Post. 7 July 2014. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  12. ^ Burton, Chris (20 November 2016). "Ronaldo matches Di Stefano record with Clasico goal at Camp Nou". Goal. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Ronaldo equals Di Stefano's Real Madrid Clasico goalscoring record". Sportskeeda. 6 May 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018. Alfredo Di Stefano's record of 18 Real Madrid goals in Clasico matches against Barcelona has been matched by Cristiano Ronaldo.
  14. ^ "Golden Players take centre stage". Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2010.. UEFA.com (29 November 2003).
  15. ^ "rsssf.org – Various Lists of 'Players of the Century/All-Time'". Archived from the original on 31 December 2015.
  16. ^ Brown, Lucas. "Di Stefano Was The Best, Maradona Could Not Score With His Head - Pele". Goal. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  17. ^ "Football world honors Real Madrid legend Di Stefano". China Daily. 19 February 2008. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
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