Spanish Championship with Real Madrid: 8
(1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963,
1964)
Spanish Cup with Real Madrid: 1 (1962)
Latin Cup: 2 (1955, 1957)
European Cup with Real Madrid: 5 (1956,
1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)
Intercontinental Cup with Real Madrid: 1
(1960)
Copa América with Argentina: 1 (1947)
Argentinian League Top Scorer: 1 (1947)
Colombian League Top Scorer: 1 (1951,
1952)
Spanish League Top Scorer with Real
Madrid: 5 (1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959)
European Footballer of the Year: 2
(1957, 1959)
Biography
Alfredo Di Stéfano (born July 4, 1926, at Barrancas, Argentina,
from Italian immigrants), is an ex-footballer who also played
international football for Argentina, Colombia, and, most
famously, Spain. Di Stéfano was a powerful forward, considered
by many to be one of the greatest of all time. Today, he is
honorary president of Real Madrid.
His career started with River Plate in Argentina, in 1943. He
won 6 league titles in the first 12 years of his career in
Argentina and Colombia before moving to join Real Madrid, who
took him from under Barcelona's nose. Although the Spanish FA
decided that the two clubs should share Di Stéfano, Barça
refused, and he became part of one of the most successful club
sides of all time, winning 5 European Cups in a row with Real
Madrid and scoring in each final.
Di Stéfano is undoubtably one of the greatest players never to
grace a World Cup Finals tournament, missing out on his last
chance through injury. After the disappointment of missing the
World Cup, Di Stéfano moved to Espanyol and played there until
his retirement at the age of 40.
After retirement, he moved into coaching. With Di Stéfano as
coach, Valencia won the Spanish Cup in 1979, but he led Real
Madrid to second place in five tournaments in 1983, losing the
league title on the last day and being defeated in four cup
finals!
Di Stéfano is currently the 3rd highest scorer in the history of
Spain's top division, with 228 goals in 329 games, behind Hugo
Sánchez (234 goals) and Telmo Zarra (251). Di Stéfano is also
Real Madrid's highest league goalscorer of all time, with 216
goals in 282 league matches between 1953 and 1964.
Di Stéfano was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest
living footballers in March 2004.
