For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails<\/p>\n
Nobody disputes Pel\u00e9\u2019s greatness and his penchant for scoring. The exact number of goals in his career will forever be a topic for debate.<\/p>\n
Pel\u00e9 often said one of the reasons he should be considered the greatest player of all time was because of his feat of scoring more than 1,000 goals. But many dispute his count because Pel\u00e9 included goals scored in friendlies or matches against semi-professional or even amateur teams.<\/p>\n
Many of his goals came at a time when it wasn\u2019t as easy to register match statistics, and not all of them were caught on tape. There is also a discrepancy in the total number of matches he played.<\/p>\n
According to Pel\u00e9, he was the all-time leading scorer in the history of the sport with 1,283 goals in 1,366 matches. That would be an extraordinary 0.93 goals per game.<\/p>\n
OFFICIAL MATCHES<\/p>\n
If only goals in official matches are tallied, Pel\u00e9 \u2019s mark was considerably lower no matter the source, standing at fewer than 800 goals. That would leave him behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Rom\u00e1rio and Josef Bican, who played before Pel\u00e9\u2019s time.<\/p>\n
Pel\u00e9 scored a total of 95 goals with Brazil\u2019s national team, but 18 of those goals came against clubs or combined squads in games which usually are not included in official statistics.<\/p>\n
Another 34 goals were scored in friendlies against other national teams.<\/p>\n
CONTROVERSIAL GAMES<\/p>\n
Pel\u00e9 played in nearly 550 unofficial matches, in part because his Brazilian club Santos made a fortune by playing exhibition matches and touring with the soccer great around the world.<\/p>\n
Some of the lists of Pel\u00e9\u2019s goals include friendlies and exhibition games against low-level opponents. He scored against under-23 national teams, combined squads, regional teams and even in some military events while he served in the Brazilian army.<\/p>\n
Among his opponents were Saudi Arabia\u2019s under-23 national team, Uruguay\u2019s armed forces club and Rio de Janeiro\u2019s athletes\u2019 union. In total, it\u2019s believed that more than 500 of Pel\u00e9\u2019s goals came in unofficial matches.<\/p>\n
Argentina great Diego Maradona was among those taking shots at Pel\u00e9 for his controversial goal count.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho did you score them against?\u201d Maradona asked in an interview with Pel\u00e9 in a television program years ago. \u201cYour nephews in the backyard?\u201d<\/p>\n
RECORD BOOK<\/p>\n
Guinness World Records credits Pel\u00e9 with 1,279 goals in 1,363 matches. It says he added more goals in \u201cspecial appearances\u201d after ending his career, but doesn\u2019t specify them.<\/p>\n
Pel\u00e9 played a few celebratory matches after officially retiring in 1977. In his farewell match that year, he played one half with Santos and another with Cosmos, his last club. <\/p>\n
FIFA<\/p>\n
The governing body of soccer gives Pel\u00e9 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches, two goals more than Guinness in the same number of matches. The reason for the discrepancy is not clear, as neither entity provides a full list of Pel\u00e9\u2019s goals and matches.<\/p>\n
FIFA adds that Pel\u00e9 scored more than 100 goals in a season twice, in 1959 (127 goals) and in 1961 (110 goals).<\/p>\n
SANTOS<\/p>\n
Santos also says Pel\u00e9 scored 1,281 goals, but in 1,365 matches. It says 1,091 of those goals were scored while he played for the Brazilian club. Santos says he also broke the 100-goal mark in 1965, with 106 goals.<\/p>\n
STATISTICS FOUNDATION<\/p>\n
Even the statistics site RSSSF, arguably the most accurate source for soccer stats, credits Pel\u00e9 with different goal totals.<\/p>\n
RSSSF lists Pel\u00e9 with 1,284 goals from 1,375 matches, limiting his total in official matches to 769 goals.<\/p>\n
The site says Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list of goal-scorers in official matches, followed by Argentina star Lionel Messi.<\/p>\n
OTHER TOP SCORERS<\/p>\n
When considering goals in unofficial matches, Pel\u00e9 is not the only player to have scored more than 1,000 times.<\/p>\n
Bican, who played for both Austria and the Czech Republic, tops some of the lists with more than 1,400 goals, followed by Brazilian striker Arthur Friedenreich.<\/p>\n
Guinness mentions Friedenreich, who played in the early 1900s, saying he \u201cscored an undocumented 1,329 goals\u201d in his 26-year career.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http:\/\/twitter.com\/tazzoni<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails Nobody disputes Pel\u00e9\u2019s greatness and his penchant for scoring. The exact number of goals in his career will forever be a topic for debate. Pel\u00e9 often said one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n