Lionel Messi scored his 643rd goal for Barcelona on Saturday to equal Pele’s record of goals for a single club as the Spanish giants were held 2-2 by Valencia.
Messi headed in from Jordi Alba’s cross after his first-half penalty was saved to equal the mark set by the Brazilian great for Santos.
The Argentine now sits alongside Pele with 643 goals for Barcelona, earning the Santos legend’s admiration.
Brazilian football legend Pele has congratulated Lionel Messi for matching his record for goalscoring at a single club, which has stood for almost half a century.
Messi netted his 643rd competitive goal in Barcelona colours on Saturday to level against Valencia at Camp Nou, after Mouctar Diakhaby had fired the visitors into an early lead.
That figure matches Pele’s record with Santos in official competition during his time at Vila Belmiro, although the Brazilian scored many more in friendlies and tours that are not included on the record books.
Antoine Griezmann earned the penalty that led to Messi’s record-equalling goal when the France attacker was nudged over by Jose Gaya.
Messi’s spot-kick was saved by Jaume Domenech but the ball rebounded and from Alba’s dinked cross, Argentina forward headed the ball into the net to draw level with Pele.
Barcelona went ahead thanks to a superb scissor kick from Uruguay’s Ronald Araujo.
Author
Agbelusi Samuel is a campus journalist, writer, red carpet host, political and sport analyst. A political science student that covers news and politics beats for AAUA INSIDER.