Real Madrid legend Alfredo di Stefano dies

Former Real Madrid football star Alfredo di Stefano, 88, has died in a Madrid hospital two days after suffering a heart attack, Spanish newspapers reported on Monday.

Argentina-born di Stefano, who helped turn Real Madrid into a leading side in the 1950s and is considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, was taken to the intensive care unit of the Gregorio Maranon hospital on Saturday.

He had suffered an 18-minute respiratory arrest, emergency services sources said.

El Pais and El Mundo newspapers reported di Stefano's death. Real and the Gregorio Maranon hospital could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Argentine-born player known as the Blond Arrow was instrumental in establishing Real Madrid among the aristocrats of European football as they won the first five stagings of the European Cup from 1955-1960.

He won caps for Argentina, Spain and, bizarrely, unofficial ones for Colombia, but never played in a World Cup finals.

He had a brief spell at Barcelona before Madrid also claimed to have signed him, and after a lengthy dispute he ended up joining Madrid.

There, he teamed up with the likes of Ferenc Puskas, as the team took the fledgling European club competition by storm.

His scoring record for Madrid of 216 goals in 262 league games stood for almost four decades before being surpassed by Raul, and his European record of 49 goals in 58 matches was not surpassed until 2005, again by Raul.

After retiring aged 40, he enjoyed success as a coach at several clubs including Madrid, Valencia, Sporting Lisbon and Argentina’s two biggest teams, River Plate and Boca Juniors.

In 2000 he became Real Madrid’s honorary president, and whenever any of the world’s greats, like David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo joined the club, they were always pictured with him as a rite of passage.

Di Stefano, whose birthday was last Saturday, lived long enough to see Madrid clinch their historic 10th European title last season. He was admitted to hospital last week and his death was confirmed on Monday afternoon.