For those of you that are unfamiliar with this iconic player, I give you Alfredo di Stéfano. Born July 4, 1926 in Buenos Aires, the 178 cm striker was a goal scoring phenomenon throughout his entire career. This is the player that legends such as Diego Maradona and Pelé looked up when they were children. Alfredo di Stéfano is also undoubtedly the greatest player never to appear at a World Cup tournament. His national team pride was always somewhat of a mystery as he played for Argentina, Colombia and even Spain. Alfredo di Stéfano started his career in 1943 with Argentine super club River Plate. He played with Los Millonarios for five seasons, being loaned out in 1946-47 to Club Atlético Huracán. All together during his time spent playing in Argentine top flight, the striker managed to net 59 goals in only 90 matches. He also played for the Argentine national team in 1947 where he racked up 6 goals in 6 appearances and helped them win the Copa América. Alfredo di Stéfano's success was short lived with Argentina when he moved to Colombian club CD Los Millonarios in 1949. He switched national teams in the process by playing for the Colombians. The Argentine born striker would find what is likely considered his best form even though European success was just on the way. From 1949 to 1953 di Stéfano would appear in 102 matches for the Colombian club and blazed the back of the net an astounding 88 times! Already with 6 titles over 12 years in South America, di Stéfano moved to Real Madrid, but not without controversy. He originally signed a deal with Barça, and FIFA, who didn't know anything about di Stéfano having left Millonarios without permission, authorized the transfer from River Plate. The Spanish Federation, however, did not recognize the deal. [video=youtube;p6X4rXRBDqQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6X4rXRBDqQ[/video] During his time with Real Madrid, Alfredo di Stéfano appeared in 282 matches from 1953 to 1964 and scored 216 goals. Amazing numbers in terms of European club play. He also switched nationalities again in 1957 in favor of Spain after missing out on national duty since 1949, nearly a decade ago. Despite his age, di Stéfano still appeared in 31 matches for Spain and scored 23 goals. He amazed the European crowds and became an instant Real legend by helping his side win 19 trophies over 11 seasons. A record still set to this very day. Below are his totals with the club. 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 From the start of his career in 1945 until 1966 where he ended with Espanyol, his career totals were 893 goals in 1,126 matches. As you can understand now, he was truly a gifted and amazing athlete, though you'd be surprised how modest he is. Alfredo di Stéfano had this to say about Diego Maradona long ago, "technically, on an individual basis, he is far superior to me in what he can do with a ball; my ability to cover an entire field and versatility is what I hold over him, though with the right training he could easily do the same." In return, Maradona made comments to RAI television saying, "I don't know if I was 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. I can say that Maradona could be worse than Pelé. But I emphasize di Stéfano was better." To read more about Alfredo di Stéfano, check out the October/November issue of Champions magazine. You can find it on sale in just about any country that enjoys football. I think you get the hint.
