50 Fun Facts About Alfredo Di Stéfano

What was Alfredo Di Stéfano's famous nickname?

Saeta Rubia means Blond Arrow, for his fair hair and his speed. Fans in Buenos Aires chanted: 'Help, help, here comes the Saeta with his jet propulsion.'

Which Manchester United reserve watched Di Stéfano from the stands in 1957 and later called him the most complete footballer he'd seen?

Bobby Charlton, left out of the side that day, sat high in the stands in Madrid as Real beat United 3–1 in a European Cup semi-final. He recalled thinking 'Who is this man?' as one player took the ball from everyone and ran the whole game.

Which newly crowned European champions were the visitors for Di Stéfano's farewell match at Real Madrid in 1967?

Celtic had tried to sign him three years earlier, and he had turned them down. They came to his farewell two weeks after winning the European Cup in Lisbon, and spoiled the party by winning 1–0.

Which club took Di Stéfano on loan for the 1946 season, when he scored his first senior goals?

Huracán were the opponents in his only senior game of 1945, a defeat. A year on he was scoring ten league goals in their colours, before going back to his parent club when no permanent deal was struck.

Which Independiente goalscorer was Di Stéfano's boyhood football idol?

Arsenio Erico was a Paraguayan centre-forward who scored all his Argentine league goals for Independiente. So the boy's hero wore the colours of a different club from the one his own father had played for.

Which future Real Madrid star did coach Di Stéfano hand a first-team debut in February 1984?

Emilio Butragueño answered with two goals as Real Madrid came from behind to win 3–2 at Cádiz. His nickname, the Vulture, had already named a whole homegrown generation that Di Stéfano was promoting.

Which international tournament did Di Stéfano win with Argentina in 1947?

The Copa América, then called the South American Championship, brought him six goals in six games in Ecuador. Those six games turned out to be the only ones he ever played for Argentina.

In which position did Di Stéfano fill in for a teammate during a 1949 Buenos Aires derby?

Goalkeeper Amadeo Carrizo was hurt and the rules allowed no substitute, so the centre-forward took his place. Di Stéfano did not concede a goal while he stood in, and his side won the derby.

Why did Di Stéfano leave Argentina for Colombia in 1949?

A footballers' strike over pay and contracts split the Argentine game. The clubs finished their fixtures with youth and amateur players, and the stars walked out to better-paid leagues abroad.

Which Bogotá club did Di Stéfano join in 1949?

Millonarios paid no transfer fee at all. Colombia's league had broken away from FIFA, so its clubs could ignore the rules, sign whoever they liked and spend the money on wages instead.

What was the nickname of the famous Bogotá team of Di Stéfano, Pedernera and Rossi?

Ballet Azul, the Blue Ballet, was the Colombian press's name for a team in blue shirts that passed its way around opponents. On a 1952 tour of Europe it beat Real Madrid 4–2 in Madrid.

Which Real Madrid president resolved to sign Di Stéfano after watching him star in the club's 50th-anniversary tournament in 1952?

Santiago Bernabéu watched the guests from Bogotá beat his own team 4–2 at Real Madrid's birthday party, with Di Stéfano running the game. Signing him took another year and a fight with a rival club.

Which club agreed a deal with his old Argentine club for Di Stéfano before Real Madrid stepped in?

Barcelona bought his registration from the Argentine club that still held it. Real Madrid instead paid the club in Colombia he was actually playing for, so two rivals each held a contract for the same man.

What compromise was ordered when two Spanish clubs both claimed Di Stéfano?

Alternate seasons between the two clubs was the ruling, with Real Madrid given the first. He began slowly, and within weeks the other club sold its share, a decision it would long regret.

For which occasion did Di Stéfano captain a Rest of the World team against England at Wembley in 1963?

The FA's centenary brought a FIFA-picked world team to London, led by Di Stéfano at 37 with Eusébio beside him in attack. England spoiled the visitors' day when Jimmy Greaves scored a last-minute winner.

Which La Liga trophy did Di Stéfano win five times?

The Pichichi Trophy goes to the league's top scorer. His 27 goals took it at the first attempt and ended Real Madrid's 21-year wait for the title.

Whom did Real Madrid beat 4–3 in the first European Cup final in 1956?

Reims led 2–0 inside ten minutes before Di Stéfano scored the goal that began the comeback. Fifty years later the two clubs met again, to open the stadium that Real Madrid had named after him.

To whom did Di Stéfano lose the first Ballon d'Or in 1956 by three points?

Stanley Matthews was a 41-year-old winger at Blackpool when he edged the vote 47 points to 44 over the star of the European champions. Di Stéfano had to wait a year, then won the award in 1957 and 1959.

Which Real Madrid teammate won the Ballon d'Or in 1958, between Di Stéfano's two wins?

Raymond Kopa, third in each of the first two votes, took the award in 1958. A year later Di Stéfano won it back and pushed the Frenchman down to second place.

Real Madrid's new French signing of 1956 could not play in the league until Di Stéfano did what?

Became a Spanish citizen: Spain capped the number of foreigners a club could field, so the newcomer had to wait until Di Stéfano's new passport freed a place. The same papers later let him play for Spain.

How did Di Stéfano mark his Spain debut in January 1957?

A hat-trick against the Netherlands opened a 5–1 win in Madrid, but the dream start led nowhere. Spain lost in Scotland months later, failed to qualify, and he missed the 1958 World Cup.

Which Real Madrid teammate, later his coach, said that with Di Stéfano 'you have two players in every position'?

Miguel Muñoz played beside him and then managed him. The line stuck because it was close to true: Di Stéfano would make a sliding tackle in his own penalty area and, a minute later, be shooting at the other end.

Whom did Di Stéfano replace as Real Madrid coach in November 1990, at the age of 64?

John Toshack had won the league only months earlier with a record 107 goals, and was sacked after a poor start. Di Stéfano's second spell in charge was brief, but long enough to lift the Spanish Super Cup.

What kept Di Stéfano out of the 1962 World Cup?

An injury just before it began kept him on the sidelines in Chile, though he had travelled with Spain's squad at 35. One of the greatest players of all never appeared in a single World Cup match.

Which Brazilian 1958 World Cup winner joined Real Madrid in 1959–60 and clashed with Di Stéfano?

Didi, named the best player of the 1958 World Cup, lasted a single season. The two clashed, and Di Stéfano is said to have frozen the newcomer out.

What was the score when Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1960 European Cup final?

7–3 it ended, after Eintracht had scored first. Plenty of people had tipped the Germans to win, having watched them put twelve goals past Rangers over the two legs of their semi-final.

Which Hungarian shared the goals with Di Stéfano in Real Madrid's 1960 European Cup final win?

Ferenc Puskás had arrived two years earlier, 31, overweight and just off a long ban, after Italian clubs judged him finished. In Madrid he and Di Stéfano formed one of the great attacking partnerships.

Where was the 1960 European Cup final played?

Hampden Park in Glasgow held 127,621 that night, nearly all of them neutral Scots, who stayed to applaud the winners. The display is credited with changing British attitudes to continental football.

Which South American champions did Real Madrid beat to win the first Intercontinental Cup in 1960?

Peñarol of Uruguay held them 0–0 in Montevideo, then lost 5–1 in Madrid, where Di Stéfano scored. The new trophy let Europe's champions call themselves the best club side in the world.

Which team beat Real 5–3 in the 1962 European Cup final, the first Di Stéfano failed to score in?

Benfica trailed 2–0 and then 3–2 before two goals in three minutes from the young Eusébio settled it. It was the first European Cup final Real Madrid had ever lost.

Who kidnapped Di Stéfano from his hotel during Real Madrid's 1963 pre-season tour?

Venezuela's National Liberation Armed Forces wanted headlines, not money: the guerrillas asked no ransom and freed him unharmed near the Spanish embassy. In 2005 Real Madrid invited their leader to a film premiere.

Di Stéfano scored four times in an 8–0 European Cup win over which fellow Spanish club in 1958?

Sevilla were in the draw only because Real Madrid, champions of Spain, had already qualified as holders, which handed the league runners-up a place. It was the competition's first tie between two clubs from one country.

Which club beat Real Madrid in the 1964 European Cup final, Di Stéfano's last match for the Spanish side?

Inter Milan won 3–1 in Vienna to take the trophy for the first time. Hours before kick-off Di Stéfano had openly criticised his own coach's tactics, and afterwards each blamed the other for the defeat.

Which club did Di Stéfano join in 1964 for the last two seasons of his playing career?

Espanyol signed him at 38 after Real Madrid declined to renew his contract and offered him a place on the coaching staff instead. He turned that down and chose two more seasons on the pitch.

Which Argentine club did Di Stéfano coach to a league title and the first Copa Argentina?

Boca Juniors won both in his first year in charge. They sealed the league with a draw away to their fiercest rivals, then ran a lap of honour around the enemy's own stadium.

Which Spanish club did Di Stéfano coach to the 1971 league title and the 1980 Cup Winners' Cup?

Valencia had waited since 1947 for a league title when he delivered one in his first season. He came back to beat Arsenal on penalties in a European final, and a third time to win promotion.

Which manager's Aberdeen beat Di Stéfano's Real Madrid in the 1983 Cup Winners' Cup final?

Alex Ferguson had watched Di Stéfano play in the 1960 final as a teenager in the crowd. His Aberdeen won 2–1 after extra time, one of five competitions in which Real Madrid finished runners-up that season.

What one-off award did France Football give Di Stéfano in December 1989?

The Super Ballon d'Or was a one-time vote to find the best of the players who had already won the Ballon d'Or. Di Stéfano, retired for 23 years, finished ahead of Johan Cruyff, and it has never been awarded again.

What role did Real Madrid give Di Stéfano in 2000?

Honorary president was the title, and it came with duties. Within weeks he was in Rome to collect FIFA's award for the best club of the twentieth century on Real Madrid's behalf.

Who was runner-up in France Football's Player of the Century vote, two places above Di Stéfano?

Maradona came second to Pelé, with Cruyff third and Di Stéfano fourth, when the magazine polled its former Ballon d'Or winners. Di Stéfano was the one man in that top four who had never played a World Cup match.

Through 2025, which player shared Di Stéfano's record of 18 El Clásico goals for Real Madrid?

Cristiano Ronaldo drew level in May 2018, two months before he left Spain for Juventus. Di Stéfano's total had stood alone for more than fifty years, since his final goal in the fixture in 1963.

Which former Ballon d'Or winner presented Di Stéfano with a special UEFA award at his 2008 tribute in Madrid?

Michel Platini, by then the president of UEFA, said it was the first such award he had handed out. The same day a statue of Di Stéfano celebrating a goal was unveiled at the stadium that bears his name.

Di Stéfano's fatal heart attack in July 2014 came the day after which occasion?

His 88th birthday was on 4 July. The next day he collapsed in the street near Real Madrid's stadium and died two days later without leaving hospital; his coffin was then put on public display at the ground.

Which Uruguayan defender strengthened Real Madrid in 1957–58 alongside Di Stéfano?

José Santamaría, known as 'The Wall', arrived from Nacional of Montevideo and stayed nine years. Like Di Stéfano he changed national shirts, playing one World Cup for Uruguay and a later one for Spain.

Di Stéfano's father had played for which Buenos Aires club, where the son later began his own career?

River Plate gave the son a single first-team game at 19 and then sent him out on loan. He came back to finish 1947 as a champion and the league's top scorer, with 27 goals.

Who overtook Di Stéfano as Real Madrid's all-time leading scorer in 2009?

Raúl passed him with a goal away to Sporting Gijón, having already taken his European Cup scoring record. The season before, he had been the first winner of a new prize for the best player in the Spanish league: the Di Stéfano Trophy.

Who in 2019 broke Di Stéfano's 55-year-old record as La Liga's oldest hat-trick scorer?

Joaquín was 38 when he scored three times inside 20 minutes for Real Betis. It was the first hat-trick of his 20-year career, whereas Di Stéfano had been 37 for the last of his many, against Murcia in 1964.

In which city did Di Stéfano score in the first of his five straight European Cup final wins?

Paris was a fitting stage, because the European Cup had been dreamed up by the French sports paper L'Équipe. Di Stéfano scored there and then in each of the next four finals as well.

Which future manager, son of a Real Madrid teammate, had Di Stéfano as his godfather from 1965?

Quique Sánchez Flores found that the coach at his first professional club was Di Stéfano himself. He has recalled being afraid people would think he was only picked because the boss was his godfather.

Before which 2014 World Cup match was a minute's silence held for Di Stéfano, with Argentina in black armbands?

Semi-final v Netherlands: it was Argentina's first match after his death two days earlier. By a sad coincidence his heart attack had come on the very day they won their quarter-final.