Brazilian football legend Pele was keen to congratulate Argentine star Lionel Messi, after he became the historical top scorer for the South American continent with 78 goals, surpassing the previous record set by former Brazilian star Pele, who scored 77 goals.
And Pele, through his account on Instagram, posted a picture of Messi and commented on it, saying, “Sorry if I’m late, however, I did not want to miss the opportunity to congratulate you on another record that was broken earlier this month, your talent in playing the ball is amazing.” Late to Messi, because the Brazilian legend underwent surgery to remove a colon polyp three weeks ago.
Pele congratulates Messi
Messi had scored 3 “hat-trick” goals with which he led the Argentine national team to a 3-0 victory over its Bolivian counterpart on Friday morning, September 10, in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Messi set the record for the most goals scored by a player for his country at the level of the South American teams, through his second and third goals against Bolivia, where he raised his score to 79 goals..
Messi, 34, equaled Pele’s number by scoring his 77th international goal when he opened the scoring for Argentina in the 14th minute, then added the second goal in the 64th minute before completing his hat-trick and strengthening his number by scoring the third goal in the 88th minute..