Di Stefano is considered one of the greatest footballers in the history of the game and of Real Madrid, but he did not participate in the World Cup despite representing 3 teams. but why?
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Di Stefano played with 3 teams and did not participate in the World Cup .. Why?
When you hear the name Alfredo Di Stefano and read about his football tours in South America and Europe from the gate of the biggest club in Real Madrid, and his writing of a new story in which he led the “Royal” accompanied by Puskas to European glory, and made him the master of Europe for the following years, do not expect at the beginning that the “Blonde Arrow” has not played in the World Cup, which is the most important tournament in the world of the group.
Di Stefano represented 3 great teams, most notably Argentina and Spain, as well as Colombia. “The Blond Arrow” played 6 games with “Tango”, 4 games with Colombia and 31 games with the Spanish national team, with which he participated in the qualifiers for the 1957 World Cup.
How did Di Stefano’s career start and how did he play in 3 teams?
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Di Stefano began his career in his native Argentina with River Plate
Di Stefano, born on July 4, 1926, began his career in his native Argentina with River Plate in 1943 at the age of 17. After 3 seasons, he was loaned to Atlético Huracan, but returned to River Plate in 1947. He did not last long in the country of “Tango”, as he left to play in the Colombian league with Melonares, due to the players’ strike in Argentina in 1949.
In the 12 years between Argentina and Colombia, Di Stefano has won 6 league titles in the national championship. He was known to be a strong, fast, skilled and goal-oriented striker, gifted with great stamina, tactical versatility, creativity and great vision on the pitch.
He could play almost anywhere, which attracted the big clubs of Europe, and he soon signed a contract with Barcelona in 1953, and the International Football Association “FIFA” registered the contract without knowing that the deal was made through the Colombian River Plate the Melonarios.
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Di Stefano has won five European Cups with Real Madrid
After Barcelona signed with him, the Spanish federation refused to register him because the deal had been made with River Plate, not with his Colombian club, prompting Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid president at the time, to take advantage of the question and persuade Di Stefano to moved to “Royal”, and actually signed a contract with Real Madrid, and managed to register in the “La Liga” because FIFA has no authority over the Colombian League.
Di Stefano quickly started his career at Real Madrid, shone from the first match and managed to establish himself as a legend in the “Royal” club. Here are his most important achievements:
He scored 216 goals in 282 games.
He scored 49 goals in 58 European Cup games.
He scored in the European Cup finals 5 times in a row for Real Madrid in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960, including a hat-trick in the last final.
Why didn’t Di Stefano participate in the World Cup?
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Di Stefano helped Spain qualify for the 1962 World Cup, but before the tournament started he suffered an injury that prevented him from playing
Despite having played in two of the most important teams (Argentina and Spain), he has never been able to participate in the World Cup.
In 1950 in the tournament held in Brazil, Di Stefano was 24 years old, and it was his first opportunity to participate in the World Cup, but Argentina refused (due to a dispute with Brazil), and in the 1954 World Cup they hosted aside of Switzerland, Argentina renewed its refusal to participate again In addition to the announcement by the International Federation that the player is not entitled to participate because he has played for the national teams of Colombia and Argentina.
Di Stefano continued to run after his dream of playing in the World Cup, and in 1956 he obtained Spanish citizenship and played 4 matches in the qualifiers for the 1958 World Cup, but the La Roja team failed to qualify.
In the next tournament, the 1962 version, Di Stefano contributed to Spain’s qualification for the World Cup, but before the tournament started he suffered an injury that prevented him from playing, and decided to retire from international football later, at the age of 36. .
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