Update 17 December 2012

Now according to fifa.com:

Pele scored 127 goals in 1959, 110 in 1961, and inspired Santos to consecutive Copa Libertadores triumphs in 1962 and 1963; conquests which preceded back-to-back Intercontinental Cup successes.

And another website claimed that in addition to the above, Pele scored 101 goals in 1965.

Above all that confusion, I suppose that all these eminent footballers are set for life – checking out real estate sunset beaches is perfectly in order.

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10 December 2012

On 9th December 2012, Real Betis lost 1-2 at home to Barcelona in a Primera Liga match. Both Barca goals were scored by Lionel Messi, taking his tally for the year to 86.

So Messi becomes “The Greatest Goalscoring “Machine” Ever as he consigned Gerd Muller’s “unbreakable” record to dust, leaving journalists struggling for superlatives:

He put himself on the Mount Olympus of football aged 25, with a whole career still in front of him. FIFA would have done well to give him his fourth Ballon d’Or tonight and not wait until January 7. He is an extraterrestrial, there is no doubt.

A Messianic Record: what happened will pass into the history of world football. It is not just one more record, it is a mark which has lasted 40 years and we dare to suggest that it will be very difficult to surpass in the future. We are very lucky that we will always be able to tell that we lived through this marvellous year in which Messi scored 86 goals. It is an explosion, a spectacle, a marvel to see the best player in the world in action.

La Pulga torpedoes history.

The most amazing thing about Messi’s achievement was that nobody was really surprised he had done it – and with three games still left to play in 2012.

But almost immediately the Zambian FA came forward to say that Gerd’s 85 goals is not the record, you need to score 21 more goals to equal Godfrey Chitalu’s (1947-1993) 107 goals in 1972.

Chitalu in 1974

Chitalu is probably Zambia’s greatest ever player – was his country’s Player of the Year 5 times, and played for his country’s top professional football team, the Kabwe Warriors. He died in a tragic plane crash in 1993, which also wiped out the country’s entire first team.

Then there’s Zico’s purported 89 goals with Flamengo in the late 1970s. I suppose when people start talking about “Most Number of Goals Scored in a Calendar Year”, then only they scrambled to check their records, which was probably not very well kept, because the focus was more on titles, money etc.

Still, to erase all doubt, Barcelona can easily arrange a friendly match before the end of the year and let Messi score 20 goals.

Note: on 6th December, Messi has already scored 28 goals for Barcelona this season (1st week of December), when almost every other striker would be happy with that many all year.