The Herald (Zimbabwe)

Pele, Ronaldo in goals row

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LONDON. — Pele has written “Leading Goal Scorer of All Time (1 283)” on his Instagram bio amid a row over his tally.

The Brazilian football legend is desperatel­y trying to cling on top spot in the “highest goalscorer of all time” list after Cristiano Ronaldo overtook him on the official count on Sunday.

Ronaldo bagged his 757th and 758th goals in a 4-1 home win against Udinese. The brace puts him one above all-time legend Pele whose total sits at 757 strikes.

However, the 80-year- old has always claimed he scored far more than that and has doubled down on his claim after global news outlets reported he had been surpassed by CR7.

The former striker has edited his Instagram bio to include: “Leading Goal Scorer of All Time (1 283).”

It is widely accepted hundreds of those goals came during tour or friendly matches, but Pele will not let it go. His official goals came during his stellar career between 1956 and 1977 for Santos, New York Cosmos and Brazil.

But Ronaldo (35) is now ahead of him and doesn’t look like stopping soon.

His first against Udinese came when he collected the ball on the left, drove into the box and unleashed a drive into the far corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance.

He added his second — and Juve’s third — with a left-footed finish when through one on one.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner also got the assist for Federico Chiesa with a sublime pass to make it 2-0 at the Allianz Stadium before Paulo Dybala wrapped up the scoring.

Lionel Messi is also on track to beat Pele with his 715 goals. He has 71 goals for Argentina and 644 for Barcelona and is only 33 with plenty of time left in his career. — The Sun.

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