Brazilian club Santos has disputed recent claims that Lionel Messi has surpassed Pele’s all-time record for goals at a single club after he scored his 644th for Barcelona.
Pele’s total for Santos, recognised by many as 643, was considered the most by any player at a single club until Messi scored his 644th for Barca during a 3-0 win over Real Valladolid.
However, the South American club released a lengthy statement claiming legendary Pele actually scored a staggering 1,091 goals during his time at the club.
Santos claim that “a goal against Transvaal (from Suriname) has the same value as a goal scored at Real Madrid, in the middle of the Santiago Bernabéu”.
“In the accounts of the specialized press, the King of Football scored 643 in competitions and the 448 goals scored in matches and friendly competitions were ostracized as if they had less value than the others,” the statement read.
“The argument of some analysts is that so many of these 448 goals scored in friendly matches were faced with weak opponents, such as small or regional teams. Even so, the matches were played in official uniforms, with the official rules of the game and with a score sheet.
“We have to remember that clubs could only play friendly matches with the endorsement of regional and national federations, one of the rules imposed by FIFA, the organizer of world football.
“Taking subjective attributes into account, such as the weakness of opponents, is not ideal for compiling statistical data. The numbers are absolute.”
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