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Pele, Brazil’s great footballer, has paid homage to Lionel Messi for equalizing his record for scoring a goal for one club after the Argentine face scored his 643rd goal for Barcelona in the draw. home 2-2 Saturday with Valencia.
PHOTO FILE: Legendary Brazilian footballer Pele waves to the audience before the start of the under-17 boys football final at the Subroto Cup tournament at Ambedkar stadium in New Delhi, India, October 16, 2015. REUTERS / Anindito Mukherjee / Photo File
REUTERS: Pele, Brazil’s great footballer, has paid tribute to Lionel Messi for equalizing his goal scoring record for one club after the Argentine’s face scored his 643rd goal for Barcelona. at home 2-2 Saturday with Valencia.
Messi, 33, hit the milestone goal with a dive head just before halftime just after he saved his penalty with Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Domenech.
Messi, who made his debut for Barcelona at the age of 17 in 2004, needed 748 matches to score 643 goals, while Pele dominated the stage in 665 competitive matches for Santos.
“When your heart overflows with love, it’s hard to change your path. Like you, I know what it’s like to wear the same shirt every day,” Pele wrote, the only player to have won the World Cup three times, on Instagram.
“Like you, I know there’s nothing better than the place we feel at home. Congratulations on your historic record, Lionel. But above all, congratulations on your beautiful career in Barcelona.
“Stories like ours, about loving the same club for so long, will unfortunately become increasingly rare in football. I really respect you.”
Pele, now 80, made his Santos debut at the age of 15 in 1956 and left in 1974 after winning six Brazilian league titles as well as two Copa Libertadores crowns. South American equivalent of the Champions League.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates)