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FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi surpassed Brazilian legend Pelé for the most goals with a single club on Tuesday.
Messi scored his 644 goal for the Catalan giants in the 65th minute against Real Valladolid. It was the last goal of the 3-0 victory. Messi scored the goal thanks to a delicate dive from Pedro González, and finished it off with clinical style.
“I see Messi happy. He is working hard and is a very important part of our attacking game,” FC Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said after the match.
Messi reflected on Instagram after the game. “When I started playing, I never thought I was going to break any record, much less the one that I surpassed today that belonged to Pele. I just want to thank everyone who has helped me all these years, my teammates, my family, my friends and those who support me every day, ”said the new record holder.
Lionel Messi was all smiles on Tuesday
Pelé reached out to Messi on Instagram shortly after Messi broke his record. “Like you, I know what it is to love to wear the same shirt every day. Like you, I know there is nothing better than where we feel at home,” Pele said. “Congratulations on your historical record, Lionel. But above all, congratulations on your beautiful career at Barcelona. Stories like ours, of loving the same club for so long, will unfortunately be increasingly rare in football. I admire you very much” .
Comparing Messi with Pele
Messi has been compared to fellow star Christiano Ronaldo for much of the past decade, especially when Ronaldo played for rival team Real Madrid. But how does the new record compare to what Pele’s used to be?
The Brazilian star scored 643 career goals in 665 competitive matches for Santos FC in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Messi needed 749 games to break the record. However, Pelé played 19 seasons in Brazil to reach the mark, while Messi was in his 17th season in Spain. They were both teenagers when they started at their respective clubs, but Pelé was two years younger than 15. Pelé has also won the top international football competition, the FIFA World Cup, three times. Messi played the final match once in his career.
Messi has spent his entire senior career in the Catalan capital. Although Pelé spent almost two decades in Brazil, he did not spend his entire career in Sao Paulo. He finished his career with three seasons in an American team, the New York Comsos.
Pelé (c) spent most of his career with Santos FC, but ended up playing alongside Italian star Giorgio Chinaglia (l) and German legend Franz Beckenbauer (r) in New York.
While the record is just another mark in Messi’s historic career, it almost didn’t happen. Messi had said that he wanted to leave Barcelona for the summer, which caused chaos at the club. He stayed reluctantly, but the club has not lived up to expectations. FC Barcelona is in fifth place, eight points behind Atlético de Madrid in La Liga after Tuesday’s games.
kbd / aw (AP, AFP, Reuters)
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