Pele Sends Messi Emotional Message To Lionel Messi After He Levels His Record

Lionel Messi‘s goal against Valencia equaled the scoring record of Pele for the amount of goals scored for one club as reported by Diario Sport.

Both the Argentine and the Brazilian have now scored 643 goals for their respective clubs, Barcelona in the case of the former and Santos in the case of the latter.

Messi’s milestone goal came in the Blaugrana’s 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon. He saw his penalty saved by the goalkeeper but scored when the ball was floated back into the box.

It’s not the first record to his name. Messi holds a remarkable 80 Guinness World Records, overcoming Gerd Muller‘s calendar year total of 85 from 1972 with 91 in 2012.

Pele hit 643 across 19 seasons with Brazilian side Santos while Messi is in his 17th season as a Barcelona player. The Argentine is La Liga’s all-time top scorer and has won the Pichichi six times.

Pele spent the majority of his career with Santos before a two-year spell with New York Cosmos in the United States. Messi joined Barcelona aged 13 from Newell’s Old Boys and has played in Catalonia ever since.

Pele congratulated Messi through Instagram, composing a message to his younger counterpart alongside an image of him hugging Ousmane Dembele. The message focused on how difficult and rare it is in football to build such an exceptional career with one club.

“When your heart overflows with love it’s difficult to change your path,” Pele wrote. “Like you, I know what it is to love and wear the same shirt every day. Like you, I know there is nothing better than the place where we feel at home.

“Congratulations on your historical 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 ever rarer in football. I admire you a lot.”