Neymar Overtakes Pele as Brazil’s All-Tme Men’s Top Scorer

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Neymar has overtaken a legendary compatriot…

The 31-year-old Brazilian soccer star netted twice in national team’s 5-1 win in their World Cup qualifying match against Bolivia to overtake Pele as Brazil’s all-time men’s top scorer.

The Al Hilal forward was tied with Pele, who scored 77 goals for Brazil between 1957 and 1971. Neymar now has 79 goals in 125 international appearances.

“I never imagined reaching this record. I want to say that I am not better player than Pele,” said Neymar after the game. “I always wanted to make my own story, write my name in the history of Brazilian football and the national team. And today I did that.”

Brazil women’s forward Marta holds the country’s all-time record with 115 goals in 171 games.

Neymar’s record-breaking goal came after a low cross into the penalty box, which the striker finished with accuracy from close range. He celebrated with a punch in the air, as Pele usually did.

Earlier in the match, Neymar missed a penalty in the 17th minute, which goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra saved.

Pelé’s Foundation acknowledged Neymar’s achievement.

“Congratulations, Neymar Jr, for surpassing the King in goals for the Brazilian National Team in official FIFA matches,” it said on social media. “Surely Pelé is applauding you today!”

Pelé died from cancer Dec. 29 in Sao Paulo at the age of 82.

Striker Rodrygo, who also scored two goals against Bolivia, said he’s still very much a Neymar fan.

“Neymar is very much a hero of mine,” Rodrygo said. “This will be in my memory, this was a very special day.”

New Brazil coach Fernando Diniz said Neymar came to play for Brazil “to score goals, break records, show that he is very much willing to live this [with the national team.]”

“He is a great hero,” Diniz said. “People have to recognize it and accept it. He doesn’t do anything to get this adoration he gets from the crowd, it is because of the natural talent he has.”

Neymar’s most recent match for Brazil before the victory over Bolivia was the World Cup quarterfinal loss to Croatia. He left Qatar with doubts about his future in the national team and did not play the Selecao‘s first three games this year.

The former Santos, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star scored in his Brazil debut in a 2010 friendly against the United States.

Neymar guided Brazil to the Confederations Cup title in 2013 but has yet to lead them to a World Cup final, reaching quarterfinals twice — 2018 and 2022 — and the semifinal in 2014, when they suffered a humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany on home soil.

He missed out on Brazil’s 2019 Copa America triumph through injury and was on the losing side in 2021’s final against Argentina.

Neymar has enjoyed a glittering club career with honors, including two LaLiga titles, a Champions League trophy, five Ligue 1 titles and a Copa Libertadores.

Brazil’s Marta to Compete in Her Sixth Women’s World Cup

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Make that six for Marta…

The 37-year-old Brazilian professional footballer, a forward for the Orlando Pride in the National Women’s Soccer League, will compete at her sixth Women’s World Cup after being named to Pia Sundhage‘s squad for the tournament starting on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.

The six-time FIFA World player of the year will lead Brazil’s quest for a first world title alongside other experienced players like Debinha, Tamires and Andressa Alves.

However, the former United States and Sweden coach does not guarantee that the all-time Women’s World Cup top scorer will feature in the starting lineup.

“Marta is the queen, she is an icon. Just being around her is contagious,” said Sundhage.

“If she will be in the starting lineup I don’t know, not yet. She will play the role I will give her and I am sure she will do well.”

Brazil, who began a training camp this week, face Chile in a farewell friendly on Sunday before travelling to Australia, where its first game is against Panama on July 24 in Adelaide.

Full Brazil Squad:

Goalkeepers: Leticia Izidoro (Corinthians), Camila (Santos), Barbara (Flamengo).

Defenders: Rafaelle (Arsenal), Bruninha (Gotham FC), Kathellen (Real Madrid), Antonia (Levante), Tamires (Corinthians), Lauren, Monica (both Madrid CFF).

Midfielders: Adriana (Orlando Pride), Ary Borges (Racing Louisville), Kerolin (North Carolina Courage), Ana Vitória (Benfica), Duda Sampaio, Luana (both Corinthians).

Forwards: Debinha (Kansas City Current), Andressa Alves (Roma), Nycole (Benfica), Gabi Nunes (Madrid CFF), Geyse (Barcelona), Bia Zaneratto (Palmeiras), Marta (Orlando Pride).

Lionel Messi Becomes Only Third Male Soccer Player to Surpass 100 International Goals

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi is in elite company…

The 35-year-old Argentine soccer star has became just the third male player to surpass 100 international goals, scoring a hat trick to blow past the century mark in the first half of Argentina‘s friendly with Curacao on Tuesday in Santiago del Estero.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward picked up the ball in the middle of the area, cut to his right hit a low shot past the keeper to hit the remarkable career milestone. He then added to his tally before halftime with another trademark, bending strike, before adding a third on the counter-attack to take his total to 102.

Messi passed the 100-goal mark in his 174th appearance for his country, after netting his 99th international goal — and 800th of his career — in Thursday’s 2-0 win against Panama.

He’s the first South American male player to hit the 100-goal mark and second South American overall behind Brazil’s Marta, who has 109 for country.

The game against Curacao was the second since they lifted the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in December, Argentina’s first world title in 36 years.

Messi remains third on the all-time men’s list of leading international scorers behind Portugal‘s Cristiano Ronaldo, who achieved the century of goals in September of 2020, and now has 120, and Iran‘s Ali Daei, who scored 109 before retiring in 2007.

Almost half (46) of Messi’s goals have come in international friendlies. The former Barcelona forward has scored 28 goals in World Cup qualifiers, including a hat trick in a 3-1 win at Ecuador in October 2017 that secured Argentina passage to the 2018 World Cup.

Messi has scored 13 times in the Copa America and he is the highest goalscorer for Argentina at World Cup competitions, having netted 13 goals in 26 matches spanning five editions, starting in 2006.

A record seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, Messi made his Argentina debut in August 2005 in a 2-1 win at Hungary, a game in which he was sent off after just two minutes. He scored his first international goal a year later in his sixth appearance against Croatia.

He registered a goal and an assist within 13 minutes of his World Cup debut with Argentina at 18-years-old in a 6-0 win over Serbia and Montenegro at the 2006 World Cup.

While Messi did not score in the 2021 Copa America final triumph over rivals Brazil at the Maracana stadium, his first major trophy with Argentina.

He netted seven times in the World Cup in Qatar. Two of which came against France in the final.

The Rosario-born player will have an opportunity to add to his goal tally when Argentina host Curacao in a friendly on March 28.

Alexia Putellas Crowned FIFA’s The Best Women’s Player for Second Year in a Row

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Alexia Putellas is celebrating a second consecutive honor…

The 29-year-old Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Barcelona has been crowned FIFA‘s The Best Women’s Player for the second year in a row, seeing off competition from Beth Mead and Alex Morgan for the award.

Putellas claimed the prize at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, with Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi taking the men’s award.

The Barca midfielder becomes the first woman to win the accolade twice since it launched in 2016, with Carli Lloyd, Lieke Martens, Marta, Megan Rapinoe and Lucy Bronze all one-time winners.

She also became the first woman to win the Ballon d’Or Feminin twice in October 2022, finishing ahead of Mead and Sam Kerr.

The Best Women’s Coach award went to Sarina Wiegman, who led England to the title at the Women’s European Championship, and Mary Earps, who played in net for the Lionesses at the tournament, picked up Best Goalkeeper honors.

Putellas has not played since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee while on Spain duty in July. FIFA’s award only takes into account last season.

“The accolade recognizes the most outstanding performers in the women’s game from the period of Aug. 7 2021 to July 31 2022,” the organization said.

During that time, Putellas captained Barca to a third successive Primera Division title. The Catalan side made history by winning all 30 of their league games throughout the 2021-22 campaign.

She also led the Blaugrana to success in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa de la Reina to complete a domestic treble, although they came up short in the Champions League. Putellas’ goal in the final — her 11th in the competition last season — was not enough to stop French side Lyon from beating Barcelona 3-1 in Turin.

There was hope that success with Spain would follow at the European Championship in England, but she was ruled out of the tournament after injuring her ACL in training just days before La Roja‘s first game.

She has not played since, but Barca recently published a video of her doing some work with a ball on the training pitch, hinting that she could return to action before the end of the season.

Arsenal forward Mead, who starred as England won the Euros and is also sidelined with an ACL injury. She joined San Diego Wave‘s Morgan on the final shortlist and finished behind Putellas.

Mead won the Golden Boot and player of the tournament at Euro 2022 last summer, while Morgan was the National Women’s Soccer League‘s leading scorer with 15 goals in just 17 appearances.

Morgan also scored the winner as the United States beat Canada in the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship final — a competition in which she finished as joint-top scorer and player of the tournament — as she became the 13th USWNT player to pass 200 caps.

Alexia Putellas Claims This Year’s ‘The Best FIFA Women’s Player’ Award

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a special third for Alexia Putellas…

The 27-year-old Spanish footballer, a midfielder for Barcelona and Spain, has won The Best FIFA Women’s Player award for 2022, marking her third individual award in the last six months.

Putellas previously won the Ballon d’Or Feminin in November and was named UEFA Women’s Player of the Year in August.

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes was awarded The Best FIFA Women’s Coach award after a year in which she won the domestic Treble and made it to the Champions League final.

Canada and Portland Thorns‘ Christine Sinclair was awarded The Best FIFA Special award while Chile and Lyon‘s Christiane Endler was awarded The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper award.

“This belongs to everyone,” Putellas said after receiving the award. “I hope we can continue with the same or even more motivations this year and we can be very successful again.

“This is the work of many years. 2021 was perfect. We only hope to finish this year the same way.”

Putellas fought off strong competition from teammate Jennifer Hermoso and Chelsea’s Sam Kerr for Monday’s award — the same two finalists for the Ballon d’Or Feminin.

Putellas helped Barca to a Treble-winning 2020-21 season in which they won the Primera Divsion, the Copa de la Reina and took home the Champions League trophy for the first time in their history.

Meanwhile, several Latina players were named to the FIFA Women’s World XI team, including Endler, Argentina’s Estefania Banini and Brazil’s Marta.

FIFA Women’s World XI
Christiane Endler – Lyon, Chile
Lucy Bronze – Manchester City, England
Wendie Renard – Lyon, France
Millie Bright – Chelsea, England
Magdalena Eriksson – Chelsea, Sweden
Estefania Banini – Atletico Madrid, Argentina
Carli Lloyd – NJ/NY Gotham, United States
Barbara Bonansea – Juventus, Italy
Vivianne Miedema – Arsenal, Netherlands
Marta – Orlando Pride, Brazil
Alex Morgan – San Diego Wave, United States

Lionel Messi Breaks Pele’s South American Men’s Record for International Career Goals

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi continues making history…

The 34-year-old Argentine professional footballer has scored his 79th international career goal for Argentina, surpassing the South American men’s record held by Brazil legend Pele.

Messi scored all three goals in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Bolivia on Thursday in a World Cup qualifying match at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, giving him two more than Pele, who had 77 career goals in international play.

Messi trails Brazilian duo Marta (109) and Cristiane (96) for the overall record for most goals scored by any South American player at the international level.

Third on the men’s list is Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain teammate Neymar, who has 69 international goals for Brazil.

“I was very nervous, I just wanted to enjoy the night. I waited a long time for this,” an emotional Messi said after the match. “We won the game [and] that was the most important thing and now we can celebrate.”

Three-time World Cup winner Pele remains in hospital due to surgery for a tumor on his colon on Monday, although the 80-year-old said the operation was a “great victory.”

Messi has had a memorable summer — changing clubs from Barcelona to PSG in August and winning his first senior international football title in July. He and La Albiceleste claimed the Copa America from Brazil in a 1-0 win at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium.

After Thursday’s result, Messi danced with his teammates and showed off the Copa trophy to the 21,000 supporters present.

“It was a unique moment [to win the Copa America] because of where and how we obtained the title,” Messi said.

“There was no better way to do it and be able to celebrate the title now, it’s incredible. My mother, my brothers are here in the stands. They have suffered a lot … I’m very happy.”

Thursday’s game also came days after Argentina’s World Cup qualifying match against Brazil — their first rematch since the Copa final — was controversially suspended. Brazilian health authorities entered the pitch at Sao Paulo’s Corinthians Arena with the game in progress and accused four Argentina players of failing to follow Brazil’s COVID-19 protocols for entering the country.

With 26 goals in World Cup qualifying matches following his hat-trick against Bolivia, Messi also passes Uruguay star Luis Suarez — his former teammate at Barcelona — for most among CONMEBOL players.

With eight career goals vs. Bolivia in 11 games, it is Messi’s most against a single opponent while donning the Argentina shirt.

Messi is also his country’s men’s all-time leading scorer, having moved past Gabriel Batistuta (54 goals) in 2016. He is also Argentina’s most capped player, with Thursday’s match against Bolivia marking his 153rd international appearance.

Prior to the Copa America victory, Messi had lost four major finals with Argentina’s senior side. They were beaten by Germany in the 2014 World Cup final and had lost in the final at the Copa America in 2007, 2015 and 2016.

He had won the under-20 World Cup in 2005 and an Olympic gold medal with Argentina’s U23s in 2008.

Messi joined PSG over the summer on a shock free-agent move after two decades with Barcelona. Messi had been with Barcelona since 2001, joining the academy the year before.

Messi played 778 games at Barcelona, breaking Xavi Hernandez‘s appearance record in the 2020-21 season. In addition, he scored 672 goals, another club record, and helped Barca win, among other trophies, 10 La Liga titles and the Champions League on four occasions.

Messi Gunning for History-Making Fourth Ballon d’Or

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi is one step closer to making serious soccer history this January…

The 25-year-old Argentine fútbol star has been named as a finalist for the 2012 Ballon d’Or, which honors the world’s best soccer player.

Messi, who claimed his second Golden Boot in October for being the top scorer in the European national leagues, will compete against Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain’s Andres Iniesta for the honor, FIFA and France Football announced Thursday.

Messi has won the award for the last three years, while Ronaldo took the prize in 2008. First-time finalist Iniesta was the MVP of the 2012 European Championship. Should Messi earn his fourth consecutive award, he’d become the only player to win the award four times.

Iniesta and Messi are teammates at Futbol Club Barcelona, while Ronaldo plays for Real Madrid.

“We’re not at the level of the Oscars, but we’re not very far from that ceremony either,” Blatter said.

Nominated for Coach of the Year are Vicente Del Bosque of the Spanish national squad, Pep Guardiola – late of Barcelona – and Jose Mourinho, manager of Real Madrid.

Brazil’s Marta and two members of the U.S. team, Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan, will compete for the title of Women’s Player of the Year. The contenders for Coach of the Year in women’s soccer are Bruno Bini of France, Norio Sasaki of Japan and Sweden’s Pia Sundhage.

The Puskas trophy for goal of the year will go to either Colombian Radamel Falcao Garcia, Brazil’s Neymar or Slovak Miroslav Stoch.

The names of all the winners will be revealed at a January 7 gala in Switzerland.

A Ballon d’Or Threepeat for Messi?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Tom Castaneda

He’s the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, having won the coveted trophy two years in a row… And now Lionel Messi is on the verge of a threepeat!

But the 24-year-old Argentine soccer superstar will have to beat out his fellow Futbol Club Barcelona teammate Xavi and his Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo for the trophy, which is given annually to the player considered to have performed the best in the previous season.

The three players were shortlisted this week for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or, with Messi the strong favorite to become only the second player in the award’s 55-year history to claim the trophy hat-trick in successive years.

Michael Platini, now president of European soccer’s governing body Uefa, is the only player to have achieved the feat to date. The Frenchman took home the award in 1983, 1984 and 1985.

Dutch stars Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten also claimed the title three times, but not in successive years.

The Ballon d’Or is awarded based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams, as well as journalists from around the world.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s Marta will face off against the United States’ Abby Wambach and Japan’s Homare Sawa for the player of the year crown in the women’s division.

The 2011 awards will be voted for by national team coaches and captains, as well as a panel of soccer journalists.

The winners will be presented at a special ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland on January 9.

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