45 years ago today, Pelé reached a millenium of goals in Rio de Janeiro as his Santos took on Vasco da Gama at the legendary Maracana.
On 19 November 1969, Pelé had squandered a number of chances in pursuit of goal number 1,000 and even missed out on the record when a defender took the ball off Pelé’s head and put into his own net.
The 90 minutes didn’t pass without the 29-year-old Brazilian reaching quadruple figures though.
As The Modern Historian notes:
“In the second half, a defender appeared to bring Pelé down in the penalty area. The referee pointed to the spot and the Santos left-back,Rildo, stepped up to take the kick, but the team captain, Carlos Alberto, decided that Pelé should take the spot kick as his team-mates retreated to the half-way line in order that he may compose himself.”
Pelé placed the ball to the goalkeeper’s left and, as the net bulged, the 100,000 plus crowd roared in celebration with thousands making their way to the pitch to celebrate.
The legacy of the Brazilan is unmatched. After signing with Santos when he was 15 and scoring four goals on his league debut against FC Corinthians on 7 September, 1956, Pelé went on to win three World Cups in a career that ended with a reported goal tally of 1,281.
While the legitimacy of this figure is disputed because of the inclusion of Pelé’s goals in friendly games, we like to indulge the legend who completed a footballing career after scoring 92 hat-tricks, four goals on 31 occasions, five on six occasions and eight on one very on-form day.
With a record like that, we’re leaving you right off Pelé.
