adminMADRID. — Mourners paid tribute to Real Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano yesterday as his coffin went on public display at the Spanish club’s Bernabeu Stadium. Di Stefano died in hospital on Monday, aged 88, following a heart attack. A hero of the all-conquering Real sides of the 1950s and 1960s, he was also honorary president of the club.
Family, fans, footballers and Real officials gathered at the club where the Argentina-born player scored more than 300 goals across 11 seasons.
He won five straight European Cups, eight Spanish league titles and was voted European player of the year in 1957 and 1959. Real Madrid’s World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo tweeted: “Legends never die. Thanks for everything Maestro.”
Spaniards also flocked to pay homage yesterday to Di Stefano, one of the world’s greatest footballers who inspired millions of fans during the isolation of the Franco era.
Hundreds of people queued around the block by the towering walls of the club’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium where Di Stefano’s body lay in state, a day after he died following a heart attack, aged 88. Inside, mourners bowed and crossed themselves as they passed in front of his coffin, which was draped with a white Real Madrid flag.
The numerous silver trophies he helped the team win were lined up nearby. Among yesterday’s mourners, Real Madrid’s captain Iker Casillas embraced members of the former player’s family, who sat dressed in black in front of big garlands of white flowers.
Known as “the Blonde Arrow”, Di Stefano was a hero of the all-conquering Real sides of the 1950s and 1960s.
Following tributes from sportsmen around the world as well as the Spanish government and royal family, the Press called him a “genius”, a “legend” and a “complete player”. —BBC Sport.
Online Reporter