CRISTIANO Ronaldo is about to draw level with Alfredo Di Stefano in second place on Real Madrid’s all-time list of scorers but the reigning Ballon d’Or holder is not the Argentine’s equal, according to Madrid club legend and Di Stefano’s former team-mate Jose Emilio Santamaria. Santamaria lined up alongside Di Stefano in the Real Madrid ranks from 1957-1964 and won four La Liga titles and three European Cups with the storied forward, who died last year aged 88.
Di Stefano scored 307 goals for Real Madrid during a highly-successful career in white, winning two Ballons d’Or as well as a host of other honours in a legendary team which also contained Ferenc Puskas and Francisco Gento. Santamaria has watched three-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo at close quarters and despite the Portugal captain’s ability to find the net, he still gives the edge to his former colleague.
“For me, Alfredo is the most complete player of all time,” he told Goal. “I’ve watched football since 1935 and I can assure you that he was a man who was all over the field. He defended, attacked and counter-attacked. He could strike a ball with his left foot, his right foot, he could head the ball and win it back too; very complete.
“I do not see similarities between Ronaldo and Di Stefano. What Ronaldo has is a great ability to score. He’s a natural goalscorer, a great player, really extraordinary. He sometimes shows another side to his character when he misses, but otherwise he’s a good team-mate. He has it all.”
Having scored against Juventus in the Champions League semi-final first-leg defeat last week, Ronaldo has now scored 51 goals in all this season and has netted over 50 in his last five seasons running – the only player in Spanish football to have achieved that feat.
Another goal against the Bianconeri on Wednesday at Santiago Bernabeu would seal Ronaldo’s place alongside Di Stefano in second place on 307 goals with only Raul on 323 ahead of that pair on the list.
Ronaldo has reached his total in around 100 fewer games than Di Stefano and is on course to obliterate Raul’s record in under half the games that the Spaniard managed.
“You can not compare the two players, Alfredo and Ronaldo,” Santamaria said. “They are two different figures. Alfredo ran across the field, and Cristiano has a capacity in certain sectors of the field to solve a game.
“And football is different. The landscape has changed; the ball, the economy. Everything has changed. So it’s not fair to compare them. They are both excellent and great players.”
Ronaldo’s team honours with Madrid are dwarfed by those of Di Stefano. Since joining in 2009, he has won one Liga title, one Champions League, two Copa del Rey titles, the Club World Cup as well as other minor cups.
Di Stefano, in total, lifted eight Spanish league trophies, five European Cups, a Copa del Rey as well as an Intercontinental Cup in 1960.
“Alfredo Di Stefano was always a winner,” said Santamaria. “He always thought of playing and winning. He had a strange character because sometimes when not things didn’t work out as he intended, he was not comfortable. That’s why he was a winner but also a great team-mate.
“You ask me were there nicer or more exquisite players? There have been many. But, by performances and efficacy, there hasn’t been anyone more complete than him.”