Explaining why Leo’s record is much greater.
Pele admitted getting beaten by Messi
As soon as Leo equalled Pele’s long-standing record, the legendary Brazilian took to social media to congratulate Messi on that feat.
The best proof you could ever imagine here.
Santos can’t prove all these goals
At least they seem like they can’t.
In the official statement, they say: “This information [about 1,091 goals scored] is kept by the specialised press as the King of Football [Pele] scored 643 goals in official competitions and 448 goals scored in other matches and friendly tournaments.”
The specialised press? Like, really? This doesn’t look like Santos can come up with protocols from all those friendly matches.
One can’t compare friendlies to official games
Of course, football was different long ago. The schedule was less busy while there were fewer top-notch competitions like the Club World Cup where a Brazilian side could potentially face a European giant.
Anyway, Santos claim that friendlies were as valuable as official fixtures since they were played in accordance with FIFA rules. Has anything changed since then? Not really. Although clubs themselves organise friendlies between each other, the respective organisations (UEFA/FIFA) still keep a check on them.
Besides, why not count Leo Messi’s friendlies too if that’s the point?
Follow our socials Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Google News.
