Can you imagine what would happen if one day we wake up with the news that they have kidnapped the best footballer in the world? That was exactly what happened more than 50 years ago when Alfredo Di Stefano, the best player of the best team in the world, was kidnapped.
We were in the year 1963, Real Madrid had already been consecrated as the best team on the planet to win the first 5 European Champions Cups consecutively, with Alfredo Di Stefano as the main figure. This made that at the beginning of the decade of the '60s, Real Madrid behaved like any great club today. There was no corner in the world that did not sigh to see them play live, they were galactic in black and white.
On this occasion, Real Madrid accepted the invitation to go on tour to Venezuela and play the "Pequeña Copa del Mundo", a tournament that brought together several from South America and Europe. But at that moment Venezuela was experiencing a convulsive period. The country was governed by the great world powers moved by the oil wealth and there were several social movements that sought a social justice that was not given.
In the streets there was a rumor that there was a terrorist group that wanted to attack during the matches of the tournament. In fact, in the half-time of the match between Real Madrid and Sao Paulo, they begin to hear shots in the stands, which caused a panic among the public and the players themselves.
After the fright, we settled on the night of August 24, 1963. Real Madrid was staying at the Hotel Potomac Hotel in the city of Caracas, José Santamaría and Alfredo Di Stefano shared a room. In the middle of the night, from the reception they call Alfredo Di Stefano, saying that some police officers who did a drug investigation wanted to talk to him. When Di Stefano refused to go down thinking that it was a joke by his colleagues, the supposed police decided to go up and look for him. Upon arriving at his room they asked him to accompany them to the police station to be able to take his statements, to which Di Stefano agreed. Finally when leaving the hotel, they put him in a car where they blindfolded him and went to an unknown location. Yes, the best footballer in the world had been kidnapped.
His captors were the Armed Forces of National Liberation of Venezuela (FALN, in spanish), a revolutionary group that sought recognition for his cause. They wanted to be seen as a true organization and not as a simple guerrilla group, and saw in Alfredo Di Stefano their golden opportunity.
Di Stefano was taken to a small apartment in the center of Caracas, where he was tied. His captors explained that they did not seek money or harm him, that they only wanted recognition of the country and the world. As expected, the news immediately went around the world causing great astonishment. In a way, the objective of the FALN had been fulfilled: the name of the organization was on the front pages of every newspaper next to the name of one of the most famous players in history.
For its part, the rest of the team was practically locked in the Potomac Hotel while outside the hotel was a real chaos with gunfire and commotion. This meant that the entire team wanted to return immediately to Spain, to which Santiago Bernabéu (at that time President of Real Madrid) said that they can not leave only Di Stefano, who must stay in Caracas until his release is completed.
While Alfredo was still kidnapped and completely scared by the situation, the team received from Spain an unimaginable order: they had to play that night's game against Porto. Real Madrid set out to play with the mind in another place, while Di Stefano himself listened to the radio broadcast of the game.
Finally, after more than 70 hours of kidnapping, his captors told him that he would be released at noon the next day. They wanted to leave him near the hotel, to which Di Stefano said no and suggested that he be left near the Spanish embassy. And so it happened, the kidnapped freed Di Stefano on "Libertador" Avenue. Alfredo immediately jumped out of the car and hid for a prudent time behind a tree, until they left. Then he took a taxi to the Spanish embassy where they immediately recognized him. They immediately called Madrid and the hotel to communicate the happy appearance of the Spanish star.
But there were still strange things to happen. A press conference was quickly organized to announce the release of the world, but Di Stefano presented a strange attitude. During the entire press conference Di Stefano said, with a remarkable face of anguish, that they treated him very well, that they did not do anything to him or tied him up, that they even played chess with him; he almost bows to his kidnappers. However, his attitude had a reason: the room was full of the same people who had kidnapped, the were also infiltrated in the police. So Di Stefano had no choice but to lie for fear of anything they could still do to him.
With Di Stefano safe and sound, there was no reason to stay another minute in Venezuela, or at least that was what the players believed. However, Santiago Bernabéu insisted that Real Madrid should play the game that night vs Sao Paulo, to convey the feeling of normality and courage. To everyone's amazement Di Stefano himself played, not because he wanted to, but because of the same commitment that being the star entailed. After the game, now, Real Madrid set course for Spain not before having gone through the scare of their lives. And that was how the best football player in the world was kidnapped and released in 3 days that marked his life forever.
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