Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano, regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, has died.
The 88-year-old suffered a heart attack on Saturday and had been in an induced coma in Madrid’s Gregorio Maranon hospital.
Real Madrid confirmed the news, saying Di Stefano, their honorary president, died at 15:15 GMT.
As a forward, he won five straight European Cups, scoring in each final between 1956 and 1960.
Real president Florentino Perez said he and the club’s board would ‘like to express deepest condolences and all their love and affection to his children, their families and friends’.
The Argentina-born player also won eight Spanish league titles and was voted European player of the year in 1957 and 1959.
He left Real in 1964 at the age of 38, having scored more than 300 goals across 11 seasons.
Di Stefano played at international level for three nations but never appeared at the World Cup.
He won six caps for Argentina and played four times for Colombia during a spell in that country’s league. However, his Colombia caps are not officially recognised by Fifa.
Fifa said in 1954 he could not play for Spain but reversed that decision in 1957 after he gained citizenship and he went on to win 31 caps, scoring 23 goals.
–
Source: BBC Sport