Santos DISPUTE Lionel Messi's goal record, claim Brazil legend Pele still holds it

Brazilian side Santos FC have disputed the claim that Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has broken the long-term goalscoring record held by their former superstar, Pele. Messi initially thought he had broken Pele's one-club goal-scoring record at Santos with his 644th goal for Barcelona, which against Real Valladolid on Tuesday. Even Pele himself posted a heartfelt tribute for Messi on social media but Santos have declared that goals scored in friendlies and exhibition matches should not be discounted and that the correct record remains Pele’s, which they state stands at 1091 goals.

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Santos dispute Lionel Messi record over most goals scored for a single club

Over the weekend, Santos FC released a lengthy statement insisting that Pele actually scored 1,091 goals during his 18 years with the Brazilian club. Santos have claimed that Pele scored an additional 448 goals in matches and friendly competitions which were subsequently deemed to be at a lower level, meaning they had less value than the others.

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The post on the club's official website, written by the 'Association of Researchers and Historians of Santos FC' read, "The 448 goals which they are trying to omit today were scored against the top clubs from those seasons. Pele scored nine goals against each of Club America (Mexico) and Colo Colo (Chile). He also put eight past Inter Milan, one of the best European clubs in 1960. Barcelona themselves, where Messi plays, were also one of Pele's victims: four goals, scored in four games" 

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"The argument of some analysts is that many of these 448 goals scored in friendly matches were against weak opponents, like small teams or regional teams. Even so, the matches were played in official uniform with the official laws of the game and officially logged. We have to remember that clubs could only play friendlies with the endorsement of regional and national federations, one of the rules imposed by FIFA, the organiser of world football."

However, three-time World Cup winner Pele already congratulated Messi on his astonishing achievement. 

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Pele achieved his goalscoring feat for Santos between 1956 and 1974, while Messi is in his 17th season at the Nou Camp after making his first-team debut in 2004. Messi achieved the landmark in his 749th outing for the Catalan giants.

Image Credits - FC Barcelona Twitter, Leo Messi Instagram