Pele congratulates Messi for equalling goal record: I admire you

Brazilian football legend Pele has congratulated Lionel Messi for matching his record for goalscoring at a single club, which has stood for almost half a century.

Messi achieved the feat against Valencia in La Liga on Saturday. With a goal in the first half, Messi brought up his 643rd goal for Barcelona. Pele had scored the same amount of goals for his club Santos and with the strike against Valencia, Messi went on to equal the record, Goal.com reported.

"When your heart overflows with love, it is difficult to change your path, Like you, I know what it's like to love wearing the same shirt every day. Like you, I know that there is nothing better than the place we feel at home," the 80-year-old former forward wrote on Instagram.

"Congratulations on your historic record, Lionel. But above all, congratulations on your beautiful career at Barcelona. Stories like ours, of loving the same club for so long, unfortunately, will be increasingly rare in football. I admire you very much, @leomessi," he added.

The 33-year-old striker reached the milestone with the diving header into the goalpost in the first half against Valencia. In the first half, Messi had also missed a penalty as Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Domenech was up to the task.

The match between Barcelona and Valencia ended in a 2-2 draw and both sides got one point as a result. For Barcelona, goals were registered by Messi and Ronald Araujo while for Valencia, Mouctar Diakhaby and Maximiliano Gonzalez got among the scoring charts.

Barcelona has now slipped to the fifth spot in La Liga standings with 21 points from 13 matches and the side is eight points behind table-toppers Atletico Madrid. The Catalan side will next take on Valladolid in La Liga on Tuesday.

(ANI)

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