Getty Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his 700th goal
Brazil legend Pele has paid tribute to Lionel Messi after the Barcelona captain netted the 700th goal of his career on Tuesday against Atletico Madrid.
Messi has now scored 630 goals for Barcelona and 70 for the Argentina national team, becoming just the seventh player in history to hit the 700 mark.
Pele has now taken time out to congratulate Messi on the latest achievement in his incredible career with a post on Instagram.
He wrote: “Leo Messi needs no introduction. Tireless, wonderful and brilliant. It’s beautiful to see you play the game. Welcome to the 700 goals club. Thanks for being such a joy to watch!”
Messi still has some way to go to equal Pele’s goalscoring feats. There is some debate over how many goals the Brazilian did manage in his career, but Guinness World Records state he netted 1,279 times in 1,363 games.
Messi to Beat Pele’s Santos Record?
Yet there is one Pele record that Messi looks set to overtake. The Brazilian currently holds the record for the most goals scored for a single club. He scored 643 times for Santos, a record that had looked unlikely to ever be beaten.
However, Messi’s penalty against Atletico in Barcelona’s 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou takes him to 630 for the Catalan giants and just 14 away from surpassing Pele’s long-standing record.
Barcelona still has five games left to play in La Liga this season and resume their Champions League campaign in August.
Still More to Come From Messi
Messi may have to wait until next season to break Pele’s record but has been backed to continue his incredible goalscoring feats for some time to come. Manager Quique Setien spoke about his captain after Tuesday’s draw at Atletico.
“I suppose that another 700 goals will not be scored by Leo, but he will continue to score. You don’t know what the ceiling is for a player of this type.”
Next up for Messi is a trip to Villarreal on Sunday in La Liga. The captain was on target the last time he visited the Estadio de la Cerámica in the league in a wild 4-4 draw between the two teams.
Messi has played every minute of Barcelona’s six games since La Liga returned in June after a three-month break and may need resting at some point but is expected to start again on Sunday.
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