Alfredo Di Stéfano career match reports

Hi mate, I have to unearth that info since I have it stashed away somewhere, but at the moment cannot find it. However, I remember checking the 1947 event and El Gráfico gave scant coverage from Ecuador and only published their impressions of the final balance once it was all over. Once I find those editions I’ll publish it in the South American thread.

 

Meanwhile, prior to the exodus of the trio to Colombia, the other famous Argentinian, José Manuel Moreno, had taken his talents elsewhere and had made his debut on Chilean fields for his new club La Universidad Católica.

Strong impressions had been made in his start to the point that fans lifted him up and toured him around the stadium as they carried him off in a triumphant display of admiration for his abilities.


[The natural and “privileged” physical conditions of Moreno have impressed the Chilean public]

Weeks later the prestigious Chilean journalist, Renato González, better know as “Mr. Huifa”, stated the resounding impact of Moreno:

JosèI Manuel Moreno, veteran star where it is played "The Best football in the world," (…) [here the author states that Argentinian football is where the best game is played around the globe]

However, in his short start on a Chilean team, the remarkable River inside-forward has found new emotions and satisfactions. Having joined a united ensemble, in a cordial and cheerful atmosphere, finding fans of another kind, who even applaud him at the entrance of the Santos cafe, where the athletes meet on Sunday afternoons, and having been the protagonist of a Classico Universitario, which were unknown to Moreno. I’ve seen Moreno play many times, in Buenos Aires, Montevideo and in Santiago playing for River Plate, or the National team. […]

I've already said it above; I've seen a more vigorous Moreno, expending more energy and working with more endeavor and with more vigor. But I don't think I've seen a more useful Moreno than this one from Universitario. In River and the NT he was a valuable piece. In the cast of Universitario Católica he is the man who moves the baton and directs the ensemble with an incomparable wisdom.

August 1949 Santiago de Chile
Mr. Huifa

 

Round 22 produced a surprise. America defeats the “Blue Ballets” 2-1. Di Stèfano doesn’t shine but Rossi is considered the best on his team. The defeat is considered perhaps overconfidence from the home team, with an upcoming clash against 3rd place Santa Fe in the next round.

[However, this match later was overturned and ruled in favor of Millonarios 1-0 after the blue team complained that America didn’t properly register their players]

 

Round 23
This time in another El Gráfico review, in a match where Millonarios (16 October) defeated Santa Fe 6-3 in Bogotá, it was said the best spectacle of all time was witnessed, where Di Stèfano stood out as the star scoring 3 goals in unstoppable form. The chronicle stayed: “He started his campaign performing less than expected because he played the wrong game, but now, returning to the style that made him fantastic at River Plate, he has showed us his total game of quickness that has earned him the moniker of the ‘blonde arrow’. He is the most complete forward we've ever seen."

A chronicler familiar with our football also said that "it was a classico like in Buenos Aires"; and when referring to the hero of the day he comes to the following: “Di Stéfano, the best center forward that has ever stepped on a football field." Alfredo had scored 3 goals (1 header) and had been the dazzling star that confirmed his fame. For many of the Millonarios players he was the star of the match, but with humility he himself considered Pedernera the best man.

 

Year 1957
France Football, with the signature of Gabriel Hanot, editor L’Equipe.

"There were and still are in post-war world football exceptional players, such as the Englishman Matthews, the Belgian Mermans, the Hungarians Puskas, Hodegkuti, Bozsik, Czibor, the Uruguayan Schiaffino, the Swede Nordahl, the Brazilian Julinho, the Russians Streltzov and Salnikov, the Austrians Ocwirk and Hanappi, the Yugoslavs Ciaikovski, Vukas and Milutinovic, the Italians Boniperti and Montuori, the Hungarian-Spanish Kubala, and, of course, Kopa; but none has matched or can match Alfredo Di Stéfano.

Di Stéfano becomes wonderful because he has all the required qualities: size and athletic vigor, which he does not abuse; speed and background; good direction and better sense; technique and tactics; gentleness and will; the personality of the player and the impersonality of one more component of a team of eleven components; It’s the type player, it’s the most complete. He has such a presence in the game that, without being forceful, he is continuously at the center of all action; all the plots march towards him; all the passes are oriented in his direction (as happens with the Austrian Ocwirk) because he is there and, without a signal or words, he is requesting them, he is demanding them with his simple presence and for the trust he transmits to the partner. Against Reims he participated in his team’s four goals. Raymond Kopa suffered a lot in the parallel with Di Stéfano because he could not recite any important role and quickly lost confidence. There has been a lot of talk about him, practicing a true cult of personality; the personality has exaggerated; the praise has been transformed into uncontrolled flattery.”

El Gráfico posted this France Football article in March 1957 captioning: “Alfredo Di Stéfano, for this French critic and for many critics in the world he is the greatest player that has existed in the post-WW2 era.”

 

A look back to year 2004 and how Britain’s Keir Radnedge summarized the legacy and career of Di Stefano.

 

That will come if time permits, mate. I had backtracked to his River Plate and Millonarios years because I had found some of the archives and took advantage of the moment to publish them. I will eventually return to 1956 and his Real Madrid career once that is over.

 

Here’s a previous take on Di Stefano from the same British Encyclopedia written by Keir Radnedge (known from the 1960s and beyond as part of World Soccer magazine) but 10 years prior in 1994. There’s a slight difference in the text but the essence remains the same.



A personal observation: While many British that witnessed him in action regard him as the best to have played this game (Eric Batty; apparently Keir Radnedge, Bobby Charlton; etc) if one looks across to South America, in Argentina itself, those views were quite different, especially when compared to the likes of Moreno, Pedernera, Antonio Sastre, etc. In contrast, but understandably, most of those players are only mentioned in the European Encyclopedia with brief descriptions and are not a part of the exclusive Legends: