Soccer in Sun and Shadow

Di Stéfano

The entire playing field fit inside his shoes. From his feet it sprouted and grew. Alfredo Di Stéfano ran and re-ran the field from net to net. When he had the ball he would switch flanks and alter the pace, from a lazy trot to an unstoppable cyclone; when he didn’t, he would evade his marker to gain open space, seeking air to keep a play from getting choked off.

He never stood still. Holding his head high, he could see the entire playing field and cross it at a gallop to pry open the defense and launch the attack. He was there at the beginning, the during, and the end of every scoring play, and he scored goals of all colors:

Watch out, watch out,

here comes the arrow

faster than all get out.

The crowd would carry him off the field on their shoulders.

Di Stéfano was the engine behind three teams that amazed the world in the 1940s: River Plate, where he took Pedernera’s place; Millonarios from Bogotá, where he sparkled alongside Pedernera; and Real Madrid, where he was Spain’s leading scorer five years in a row. In 1991, years after he retired, the magazine France Football bestowed on this Buenos Aires boy the title of “best European player of all time.”