Come in number 643, your record has gone. Pele’s goals tally for one club, Santos, stood for 46 years.
If it had to go, then it at least fell to a player packed with the same star power.
Leo Messi’s 644th goal for Barcelona in a 3-0 win against Valladolid was typically high end, another merciless, one-on-one victory over the keeper.
Pele, still ticking along at 80, offered his congratulation via that thoroughly modern medium, Instagram.
“Like you, I know what it’s like to love wearing the same shirt every day. Like you, I know that there is nothing better than the place we feel at home,” he said.
“Congratulations on your historic record, Lionel. But above all, congratulations on your beautiful career at Barcelona.
“Stories like ours, of loving the same club for so long, unfortunately will be increasingly rare in football. I admire you very much, Leo Messi.”
Pele at least retains the cigar for rate of consumption, hitting 643 goals in 665 competitive matches, and on inferior pitches. It has taken Messi a further 84 games to surpass him, playing on comparative carpets. We split hairs. As Pele observed, the record is unlikely to be overhauled, unless Erling Haaland sees out his career at Dortmund.
So in the year that one iconic No 10 left us, it is fabulously fitting that Diego Maradona’s only rival for Argentina’s affections should leave an indelible mark on the ledger as well as in the imagination.
Messi is obviously managing massive change at Barcelona. A win at Valladolid, who remain in La Liga’s relegation zone, hardly suggests Barcelona are capable of challenging the Madrid clubs for the title in what might yet turn out to be his final season at Camp Nou.
The cameos are still football gold. Messi was the architect of all three goals. It was his cross that picked out Clement Lenglet for Barca’s opener, and his beautifully dinked pass that freed Sergino Dest to cross for Martin Braithwaite to make it 2-0.
The record-breaking goal was peak Messi, slotted right-footed after a typically nimble exchange sent him clear.
“When I started playing football I never thought I’d break any record, especially not the one I achieved today that Pele held,” Messi said.
“I can only give my thanks to everyone who helped me during these years, my team-mates, my family, my friends, and everyone who supports me every day.”
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