Spanish-Argentine Soccer Player
- He is one of the greatest footballers of all time.
- Sporting debut: July 15, 1945 (Club Atlético River Plate)
- Sporting retirement: April 3, 1966 (Real Club Deportivo Español)
- Debut as a coach: June 11, 1967 (Elche Club de Fútbol)
- Retired as coach: March 20, 1991 (Real Madrid Club de Fútbol)
- Parents: Alfredo Di Stéfano and Eulalia Laulhé Gilmont
- Spouses: Sara Freitas
- Children: Nanette Norma, Ignacio, Helena, Sofia, Alfredo, Silvana
- Name: Alfredo Stefano Di Stefano Laulhé
- Nickname: The Blonde Arrow
- Height: 1.78 m
Alfredo Di Stefano was born on July 4, 1926, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a family of Italian origin.
Son of Alfredo Di Stéfano and Eulalia Laulhé Gilmont.
He began playing with River Plate, the team from which he rose to fame.
He was loaned to Huracán the following season but returned to River in 1947. The latter was the year of his consecration: he won the Argentine Championship title, was the top scorer (with 27 goals) and was called up to form part of the Argentine national team that played the South American Championship ( Copa América ) held in Ecuador.
In 1949, he left his native country to debut in the Colombian League , attracted by the high salaries offered by his clubs. He remained for four years with Millonarios de Bogotá and moved to Europe to play for Real Madrid .
With his new team he won the club's first five European Cups (1956–1960), a competition in which he scored 49 goals, one Intercontinental Cup (1960), eight Spanish League titles (1954, 1955, 1957, 1958 and 1961–1964) and one Spanish Cup (1962). He was the league's top scorer five times (1954, 1956–1959) and, together with players of the calibre of Gento and Puskas, the Saeta Rubia (as he was known in the football world), made Real Madrid mark an entire era of Spanish and European football.
Some time later, he signed for Español de Barcelona; after two years, he worked as coach of the club from the Alicante city of Elche and went to Argentina to coach Boca Juniors . In 1970, he returned to Spain, where he would coach Valencia, with whom he won the Spanish League title after 24 years.
During his sporting career, he played for the Argentine and Spanish national teams (with which he scored 23 goals in 31 matches), although he did not achieve any significant success with either.
On 26 August 1963, he was kidnapped in Caracas by the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Armed Forces ). He was released very close to the Spanish Embassy in Venezuela.
On 5 January 1950, he marrie Sara Freitas. They were the parents of six children: Nanette Norma, Ignacio, Helena, Sofia, Alfredo, and Silvana.
Alfredo Di Stefano, former player and honorary president of Real Madrid, died on 7 July 2014 at the Gregorio de Marañón Hospital in Madrid, two days after suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest.