Alfredo Di Stefano: the legend who played for three nations

Alfredo Di Stefano is not mentioned nearly as often in the context of the best footballers of all time as Pelé, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, or Cristiano Ronaldo, but the star striker certainly belongs among the very best. Or as Pelé said: Di Stefano is the greatest!

The forward’s career, who started shining at Argentina’s powerhouse River Plate after World War II, is particularly interesting because he represented three countries: his homeland, Spain, and Colombia.

Wearing the jersey of multiple national teams is not unique, but Di Stefano stands out from others. Take, for example, former Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic. He played for Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Serbia, but this was due to war and politics, not the player’s desire.

Argentina, Spain, and Colombia have never been part of the same country that later split into independent states. While the reason why Di Stefano represented Argentina doesn’t require much explanation—after all, he’s from there!—the story behind the other two countries is much more intriguing.

Di Stefano was a goal-machine

Di Stefano made his international debut in December 1947 at the Copa America. He scored six goals in six matches and helped Argentina defend the title.

Oddly enough, that tournament was the only time Di Stefano represented his homeland because the players quarreled over money with the association, and the latter had disputes with their competitors. All of this led to Argentina not participating in the 1950 World Cup qualifiers and missing two Copa Americas.

Things didn’t improve for the 1954 World Cup, where Argentina skipped their third consecutive World Cup. In 1938, they boycotted the tournament because, according to South American nations, the competition was supposed to be held on their continent, but instead, it was played in Europe. Various versions circulate regarding the decisions in 1950 and 1954, but the most commonly discussed reason is that Argentina’s President Juan Peron didn’t want to show the country in a bad light.

A justified question arises: How could one of the best countries on a strong footballing continent embarrass itself at the World Cup? For that, we need to turn the clock back to 1948.

Argentine footballers decided to strike for pay since the league was not professional. The situation ended so badly for the local federation that the best players refused to represent the national team, and besides Di Stefano, several stars, like Nestor Rossi and Adolfo Pedernera, left Argentina.

The trio joined the Colombian team Millonarios. By 1949, the Colombian championship had become one of the most attractive places in the football world. The first big catch was Pedernera, followed by top players from Hungary, Argentina, England, and others joining Colombian clubs.

The Colombians wreaked havoc as they split their league from FIFA, which helped them bypass hefty transfer fees. The players, who were paid exceptionally well, ran for the money and didn’t care about their former clubs. However, FIFA did care, and they decided to ban the Colombian national team and clubs from international football until the league returned to their fold a few years later.

To pass the time during the 1951 off-season, four matches were organized in Colombia between the best local and foreign players playing in the championship. Interestingly, Di Stefano was among the locals, and although FIFA does not recognize these games as international matches, the governing body banned Di Stefano from representing Argentina after that.

As for what happened at the club level, Millonarios were unstoppable, winning one title after another. Di Stefano was their key player, scoring 267 goals in 292 matches.

Plan A: Pedernera

In March 1952, Real Madrid organized a tournament at their home stadium to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary. They invited River Plate, but then news reached Real’s president, Santiago Bernabeu, that a new powerhouse had emerged in South America.

Thus, Real asked Plate not to come, and the invitation intended for the Argentinians was sent to Millonarios instead.

The team, consisting mainly of Argentinians and former Plate players, drew 2-2 with the Swedish champion Norrköping and then defeated Real Madrid 4-2. Bernabeu, who had come to watch Pedernera, was instead captivated by Di Stefano.

Real’s fierce rival Barcelona had also caught wind of his brilliance and reached an agreement with Plate—under FIFA rules, the transfer fee had to be paid to them, not the Colombian pirates. A deal was also made with Real, and the deadlock was asked to be resolved by former Spanish Football Federation president Armando Calero.

To put it mildly, his plan was peculiar: Di Stefano would play two seasons at Real, two seasons at Barcelona, and then be free to continue his career. Even more bizarre is that both clubs initially agreed to this idea until the Catalans protested among themselves, removed their president from office, and sold their share of Di Stefano to their eternal rival.

Di Stefano arrived in Madrid in September 1953, at the age of 27, after a seven-month hiatus from football. Five days later, he debuted for his new club and celebrated with a goal. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Latin American felt good in Spain, and most importantly—the locals adored him. However, Real had a problem because their major signing in the summer of 1956, French star Raymond Kopa, could not play due to restrictions on foreign players.

The simplest solution was to find someone to grant Spanish citizenship. Di Stefano met all the requirements, and since FIFA had banned him from representing Argentina, he had the opportunity to get a second chance in Europe.

The new passport arrived in the fall of 1956, and while Kopa could take the field for Real, Di Stefano could not yet play for Spain. FIFA initially opposed him representing a third country but eventually relented under pressure from the Spanish Federation. The forward celebrated his debut with a hat-trick against the Netherlands. Ultimately, Di Stefano represented Spain 31 times and scored 23 goals.

Sadly, Di Stefano never got to play in the World Cup. In addition to Argentina’s issues, he missed the 1958 tournament for his new country when they drew in the qualifiers with Switzerland and lost to Scotland. Winning the reverse fixtures did not help Spain.

One of the best footballers of all time contributed to Spain’s qualification for the 1962 World Cup and even flew to the final tournament but could not play due to an injury.

Failing to play in the World Cup is Di Stefano’s only misfortune in his career.