Spaniards mourn Madrid hero Alfredo di Stefano

Tributes hail football legend as a genius and a complete player.

MADRID:

Spaniards flocked to pay homage on Tuesday to Real Madrid legend Alfredo 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 Tuesday’s mourners, Madrid 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’.

Fans fondly remembered the man who transformed their club into one of the most successful sides in the world.

“I feel cut up,” said 28-year-old Javier Lopez. “He was the greatest.

“If it wasn’t for this man, Madrid would be nothing. He defended, he directed play and he scored goals.”

Madrid Chairman Florentino Perez told a news conference on Monday, “He has left us, but his legend will live forever.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2014.

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