Recognition and admiration for Di Stéfano
AS had a fine initiative recently as they asked some of their key collaborators (along with Spanish film director José Luis Garci) to chose their best XI of all-time. Far from an easy task and made that bit more complicated by the array of star strikers and attacking options available. After the series, a 'Best of the best' was released and I was delighted to see that Alfredo Di Stéfano had made his way into that XI with the Argentine not getting a place in the France Football all-time XI. I'm also sure that given the younger demographic of those choosing teams, only myself and maybe Garci actually got to see Di Stéfano play, but that is certainly a memory that will live forever.
Vintage footage
I was exceptionally pleased as the footage available of Di Stéfano in action does not do justice to the excellent player he really was. Back in those times, little football was videoed and it wasn't until the times of Pelé and Maradona when we really were able to appreciate the talents of these individuals thanks to the evolution of technology. Di Stéfano was, as a player, the best of Casemiro, Zidane and Ronaldo Nazario all moulded together in just one footballer. He was as competitive as the first, could dribble with ball with the same elegance as the second and was as lethal in the box as the third.
History changing
Iñaki Gabilondo claimed that when many state that the Argentine was the best ever that "it was unlikely that they ever saw ample footage of his playing days". Former Barcelona player Luis Suárez Miramontes, recently stated en the Cadena SER network that despite claims that Leo Messi is the greatest of all time, the now retired coach and player is adamant that Di Stéfano wins the vote with both men playing together for the Spanish national side between 1957-62 and Suarez then faced the buenos Aires born in his time as a player with Barça and at Inter. "Every team tried to allocate two players to mark him and he was good enough to dominate". Di Stéfano arrived at Real Madrid at the age of 27 and changed the path of history at the club with old black and white reels the only way to enjoy his legacy. as a player