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The match will be one of the final matches that the Merengues will play as they prepare for the 2008-2009 season as their tour will take them to Austria and England. This match would also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the arrival of La Saeta to the Colombian side from River Plate. The match would be a tribute to La Saeta Rubia (The Blonde Arrow) The Argentine star was the integral part of one of the most important moments that saw some of the most important stars in Argentina and Brazil head to the “pirate” Colombian league. The El Dorado era was the first step in the professionalization of the sport in that country.
Di Stefano arrived from River Plate back in 1949 as the Argentine league was in the middle of one of the most debilitating player strikes. He played 292 matches and scored 269 goals for the Bogota side. Overall, he scored a grand total of 583 goals in In addition to his individual performance, he won four league titles and was the league’s leading scorer in his last two seasons. There he would head to Spain and start a cloud of footballistic and political controversies between the nation’s two biggest teams and some of the most powerful men in that nation at the time.
Di Stefano stats
Years Club App (Gls)*
1943-1949 River Plate 25 (11)
1946-1947 Huracán (loan) 66 (50)
1949-1953 Millonarios 294 (267)
1953-1964 Real Madrid 282 (216)
1964-1966 Espanyol 21 (9)
National Team
Years Club App (Gls)*
1947 Argentina 6 (6)
1951 Colombia 4 (0)
1957-61 Spain 31 (23)
Titles Won
River Plate
Primera División Argentina: 1945, 1947
Runner-up South American Championship Clubs : 1948
Millonarios
Copa Bodas de Oro del Real Madrid: 1952
Colombian Championship: 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953
Colombian Cup: 1953
Real Madrid
La Liga: 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
Copa del Rey: 1962
European Cup: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960
Intercontinental Cup: 1960
Pequeña Copa del Mundo de Clubes: 1953, 1956
Latin Cup: 1955, 1957
[edit]Country
Argentina
Copa América: 1947
***Stats courtesy of Wikipedia***
