If my memory is still intact, I think that although under the formation that was being abandoned at about that time of having five forwards and he was nominally the centre forward he actually played behind the other four which was quite revolutionary at that time though used by the Hungarian team. including Puskas, that caused England's first defeat to a foreign team. Don Revie played a similar role when he played for Manchester City. the so called Revie Plan.
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Alfredo di Stefano
- Thread starter The Large One
- Start date
Mellor 3 Ward 4
Well-known member
That's a bit like saying you've never heard of Pele, Eusebio, Maradona or Charlton
He won 5 consecutive European Cups, scoring in each of the finals, something that will never be repeated.
Goldstone Rapper
Rediffusion PlayerofYear
Albion fact: Alfredo di Stefano once managed Real Madrid to a 1-0 victory over Brighton in summer of 1983.
JCL
He was before my time but I do remember my dad talking about him as a hell of a player. You don't have to have seen him to realise that he was someone special. That cup final in Glasgow must have been one hell of a game, I've only seen the goals; I wish the whole match was available
RIP
Goldstone Rapper
Rediffusion PlayerofYear
Good to see Wellesley's comment given short shrift on this thread!
Goldstone Rapper
Rediffusion PlayerofYear
It's worth remembering that Glaswegians had seen Rangers humbled 6-3 at Ibrox in the second leg of the semi-final by Eintracht Frankfurt, who were no mugs. So for di Stefano's and co to whip the Germans, they must have been streets ahead of everyone else.
Mo Gosfield
Well-known member
- Aug 11, 2010
- 6,362
I have an 18 year old son who knows all about Di Stefano because he is interested in the history of the game. From a fairly young age I talked to him about the development of football, particularly in the 1950's. When the European Cup started, it wasn't embraced by everybody but one man lifted it up to a level that it enjoys today. Soon, everybody was talking about Real Madrid and wanted to watch them play. They were privileged to witness the greatest striking partnership in football history, the great Ferenc Puskas ( suggest you read about him as well ) and the even greater Alfredo Di Stefano.
But ADS wasn't just a striker..he was a box to box player, involved in almost everything. He was sublime, gifted and priceless. Playing today, he would be worth £100m. He scored in five successive European Cup Finals. He was idolised in Argentina, Columbia and Spain.
Some will say he was the greatest player of all time not just because of his ability but because of his influence on football. He showed that you didn't have to stick to rigid formations and that you could be flexible in movement on the pitch. He made the European Cup famous. He made Real Madrid famous. He made football more glamorous in the austere 1950's. He got people out of their homes to watch him and his teammates. As mentioned before, he was part of the greatest club performance of all time, when Real beat a very good Eintracht Frankfurt side 7-3 and I believe he and Puskas scored all 7 between them.
Listen to people who know the game...Bobby Charlton, Alex Ferguson, Pele etc. They will tell you how good he was. Look at Leeds United wearing an all white strip, introduced by Don Revie, in reverence to Real Madrid and ADS and still worn today. Read the history of our club and discover that we wore an all-white strip in the early 1970's because Pat Saward wanted us to look like Real Madrid ( sadly, we didn't play like them! )
His influence was everywhere and is everywhere still. He changed football. In this age, when the word ' great ' is bandied about far too loosely, he was a genuine great. There have been a handful of truly great footballers and he was right up there.
RIP.
Wellesley
Well-known member
- Jul 24, 2013
- 4,973
Albion Ranger
New member
- Jul 8, 2014
- 9
I was lucky enough to be at the 1960 final at Hampden and it was, and still is, the greatest game I've ever seen. As a Rangers fan then (and now) we suffered a Brazilian style semi final thrashing at the hands of the Germans, who won 6-1 at home and 6-3 at Ibrox. And we thought we had a great Rangers team at the time, with a belief that we could win the cup with the final being in Glasgow.
So I think most of us went to the game to support Eintracht but left cheering a fantastic Real victory. The noise in the stadium that night was awesome and the memory of the crowd cheering 'REAL! REAL! at the end is still with me. Seeing the wizardry of Di Stefano, Puskas, Gento , etc. changed everyone's view of football. It was like coming out of the dark ages!
Alfredo di Stefano was a truly amazing player, as was Puskas, and the pair of them gave me something to remember for ever. RIP Alfredo.
So I think most of us went to the game to support Eintracht but left cheering a fantastic Real victory. The noise in the stadium that night was awesome and the memory of the crowd cheering 'REAL! REAL! at the end is still with me. Seeing the wizardry of Di Stefano, Puskas, Gento , etc. changed everyone's view of football. It was like coming out of the dark ages!
Alfredo di Stefano was a truly amazing player, as was Puskas, and the pair of them gave me something to remember for ever. RIP Alfredo.