The Best Soccer Players of All Time

The Best Soccer Players of All Time — page 5 — ALFREDO DI STÉFANO 6 Real Madrid was on its way to the wrong side of history It was 1956 The Spanish soccer club had reached the final of the first European Cup But Real Madrid was trailing Stade de Reims of France 2 0 after just 10 minutes Then Alfredo di Stéfano made his move The speedy forward raced into the top of the penalty box In a flash he received a pass and touched it into space Then before two defenders could close in he drove a right-footed shot to the back of the net That was the start of a comeback Real Madrid eventually won 4 3 Di Stéfano had a knack for winning He won two league titles with River Plate in his native Argentina Then he won four Colombian league titles in five years with Millonarios It was with Real Madrid that di Stéfano became a legend though Alfredo di Stéfano makes a play on the ball in 1963

The Best Soccer Players of All Time — page 6

The Best Soccer Players of All Time — page 7 — 8 0 The number of minutes Alfredo di Stéfano played in World Cups in his career He finally qualified for the 1962 tournament playing for Spain but he was injured The team was not yet a power when he arrived in 1953 Then in 11 seasons with di Stéfano it won eight Spanish league titles More importantly it won the first five European Cups now called Champions League Di Stéfano who scored in all five finals was the team’s leader and star throughout Di Stéfano was a dominant striker He scored 418 goals in 510 games for Real Madrid But The Blond Arrow was much more than that Many consider him to be the game’s most complete player of all time Di Stéfano had great ball control with both his feet and his head Plus he was fast and versatile enough to play all over the field even on defense He’s the best I ever saw said legendary England defender Bobby Charlton

The Best Soccer Players of All Time — page 8 — 9 ALFREDO DI STÉFANO Position Forward Hometown Buenos Aires Argentina Birth Date July 4 1926 National Teams Argentina 1947 Spain 1957 61 World Cup 1962 injured did not play Pro Career 1949 66 Club Teams River Plate Argentina 1945 1947 49 Huracán Argentina 1946 Millonarios Colombia 1949 52 Real Madrid Spain 1953 64 Espanyol Spain 1964 66 European Player of the Year 1957 1959 Alfredo di Stéfano far right scores a goal for Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup Final

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