Tag: Pele

Neymar breaks Pele’s Brazil goalscoring record

The 31-year-old surpassed the all-time legend with his 78th and 79th international goals

Neymar has broken Pelé’s all-time Brazil men’s national team scoring record, netting his 78th and 79th career goals for the Seleção in a 5-1 win over Bolivia on Friday.

The record-breaking 78th goal came in the 61st minute of the World Cup qualifier in Belém, Brazil. Rodrygo got on the end of a cross and shifted around a Bolivia defender before being taken down, with the ball falling kindly for Neymar to slot home.

Neymar’s goal made it 4-0, with Brazil ultimately winning 5-1 after the forward added another goal late in stoppage time to reach 79 career international strikes.

The 31-year-old, who recently joined Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, has set the record in 125 caps, with his record-tying 77th goal coming in a World Cup quarterfinal defeat to Croatia last year.

Though FIFA credits Neymar with owning the record, the Brazilian federation still insists that the late Pelé actually scored 95 goals for Brazil, not 77.

The discrepancy comes from matches Brazil played against club sides, which FIFA does not count as official games.

In any case, everyone can at least agree that neither Pelé nor Neymar is actually the all-time leading goalscorer for the Brazil national team. The holder of that honor would be Marta, who has 115 goals.

Watch Neymar’s record-breaking goal

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Pelé tributes pour in as the soccer world mourns the death of the Brazilian legend

Brazilian soccer legend Pelé died Thursday at the age of 82.

Brazilian soccer legend Pelé — who was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento — died Thursday at the age of 82, confirmed by his official Twitter account, as well as his agent to the Associated Press.

He had been hospitalized in Sao Paulo since the end of November with a respiratory infection exacerbated by COVID-19, USA TODAY reported.

A superstar in the truest sense, Pelé is considered one of the best soccer players to take the field and was a dazzlingly prolific goal-scorer. His list of career accolades is remarkable, including winning three World Cups (1958, 1962, 1970) and making his debut at age 17 as the youngest player ever at the tournament.

He was an exceptional soccer player, a king and a hero to many, and following the news of his death, the soccer world paid tribute to the legend.

Google has a delightful Easter Egg celebrating Pele’s 80th birthday

Happy birthday to a legend!

A very happy 80th birthday to Pele, the all-time Brazilian soccer great.

Google decided to mark the occasion with an Easter Egg that some users have discovered and are sharing on Friday.

First, type in “Pele” to Google. Then, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page. Where you’d normally see “Gooooooogle” is now “Goooooooooal.” Click on the floating soccer ball and watch as the “L” boots it at the “G,” which pulls of a bicycle kick right into the net, and all the letters celebrate. As USA TODAY noted, it’s the tenth “O” that’s the ball, and No. 10 was Pele’s number during his incredible career.

Neat!

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