The Blond Arrow of River Plate - Legend of Di Stefano: Part One

THE LEGEND OF DI STEFANO

PART ONE:
THE BLOND ARROW OF RIVER PLATE

"In 1948, River Plate was considered unbeatable because it had an attack of geniuses - and the greatest genius was a 21-year-old nicknamed La Saeta Rubia (the Blond Arrow), such was his speed..."
Mauro Prais, webmaster of Vasco da Gama's web site.

Alfredo Di Stéfano was born on July 4, 1926 in Buenos Aires, Argentina of Italian parents. His family had a farm in the suburb of the Argentine capital and being the eldest son of the family, the young Alfredo had to shoulder an abundant workload. Life was tough for Di Stéfano, but he never gave up playing soccer. Working in the farm, Di Stéfano built the stamina that enabled him to roam the pitch for the full 90 minutes and to play top class soccer up to 40 years of age.

River Plate's stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina

At 12, Di Stéfano joined a youth team called Los Cardales and later won the amateur championship for them. While only 15 years old, he joined the famous River Plate of the 40's, playing in their second team. At 16 years of age, he had earned himself a place in the first team squad.

Muñoz, Gallo, Pedernera, Labruna and Loustau River Plate, at that time, had a legendary forward line called La Maquina, the Machine. Di Stéfano made his debut for the team not at center forward but rather at outside-right (right-winger). The team included formidable names such as "the maestro" Adolfo Pedernera and Labruna, two of Argentina's greatest players of all-time. So River Plate loaned the young star to Huracan to polish his already impressive skills.

River Plate

Huracan

Ironically, when Di Stéfano played against River Plate, he scored the winner against his old club. His goal, only 15 seconds into the game, was perhaps the fastest goal score in the history of the league. The emerging talent would go on to score 50 goals in 66 league games.

In 1947, River Plate's great center-forward Pedernera was sold to Atlanta. The club recalled the 20-year-old Di Stéfano, already considered good enough to lead their attack. Di Stéfano finally got his wish, because as a youngster, he idolized Independiente's center-forward Arsenio Erico and wanted to play in the same position himself.

Arsenio Erico

With his illustrious teammates, Di Stéfano took the oppositions' defences apart in every game and formed the most feared attack in South America. Playing at center-forward, Di Stéfano was partnered by Moreno and Labruna in a fearsome foward line.

THE BLOND ARROW
A young Di Stéfano playing for River Plate

The New Maquina ... Moreno, Di Stéfano and Labruna

In one famous match in that year, River Plate played Atlanta, which included their former star Pedernera in their lineup. Di Stéfano scored the winning goal before he was attacked by the Atlanta's fans and was taken to the hospital immediately. Atlanta was relegated to the second division.

River Plate won the Argentine championship in 1947, the season Alfredo rejoined River Plate. They scored an average of 3 goals per match, with Di Stéfano alone contributed a third of the number. He won the league's top goalscorer with 27 goals in 30 games. Di Stéfano in action for River Plate

AFA, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino Still 21 years of age, Di Stéfano was called up by Argentina and made his debut in 1947. This was very impressive considering the number of world class strikers the country possessed in the likes of Moreno, Pontoni, Pedernera and Labruna.

Copa America In the same year, Di Stéfano travelled with the national team as a reserve for the Copa America, the South American Championship. In the first match against Bolivia, an injury to Pontoni gave Alfredo a chance and he made a major impression, leading his country to thrashed their rivals 7-0.

Di Stefano (top row, eighth from the left) with the victorious Argentine squad
Di Stéfano went on to score another 5 goals in the next 5 matches, finishing as the tournament's second top-scorer behind Uruguay's Falero. Argentina thus retained the South American Championship.

Alfredo obtained hero status in the triumph and put his name firmly in the South American talent map. And yet apart from Copa America matches, the great player made only one other appearance for his native country ... before moving on to other parts of the Latin soccer world.

GO TO COLOMBIA WITH DI STEFANO

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