MESSI LEAPFROGS PELE

Pele have always been and will always be known as the King of goals, but great in our mist is the Holy one of Argentina, Lionel Messi.
Lionel Messi is the heir apparent to the throne left vacant by Diego Armando Maradona. The waters are divided between those who consider him to be far from being the best No. 10, and those who believe that Messi will be even better than Maradona.
Born in Rosario, he cut his teeth in the youth ranks of Newell's Old Boys, until a hormonal problem that affected his growth changed the plans of his family and, of course, his personal future. Facing expensive treatment for their son, Messi's parents moved to Spain as Newell's were not able to afford the medical costs related to his condition, and even the wealthiest Argentine teams, such as River Plate, refused to foot the bill.

 After his first trial with Barcelona, the Catalan coaches had no doubts. They decided to sign Messi and pay for his medical treatment. His growth was noticeable within Barca, and in little time he came to be considered one of the great talents at the club. He made his debut in the first division in October 2004, against Espanyol, and Barcelona have since adopted him as one of their greatest idols. His first championship would come in the Liga season of 2004-05. Since then, and playing a more prominent role every season, he has won every major club trophy at Camp Nou - including a stunning haul of six in 2008-09 - and claimed the World Player of the Year award three times in three years, leaving many in little doubt as to the fact that Messi is the best player of his generation; possibly of all-time.That idea was given further weight in March 2012 when, at the age of 24, he became the all-time top scorer at Barcelona - beating the 232 goals of Cesar Rodriguez.
And know Messi has followed up that feat by doing what many thought will never happen in this generation.
Lionel Messi has passed Pele’s milestone of goals in a calendar year by scoring for the 75th and 76th time in 2012.The Argentine moved within nine of Gerd Muller’s all-time record and helped Barcelona win 4-2 at Mallorca in La Liga.
Pele scored 75 goals in 1958. Muller netted 85 in 1972.
Muller will perhaps be discouraged to hear that Messi is chasing another of his records having already surpassed one last season.
The prolific German hitman scored 67 goals for Bayern Munich in the 1972-73 season.
This remained the highest tally in a European club season until the diminutive Messi scored 73 for Barcelona in the 2011-12 campaign.
Messi has nine games left to score the ten goals to surpass Muller's 85 goals, and given his current run of form - 15 goals in 11 La Liga games - the 25-year-old is on course to usurp the German once more.
The striker set another record last season when he scored 50 goals in a La Liga season, moving to the top of Barcelona's all-time top goalscorer list in the process after surpassing Cesar Rodriguez’s 57-year milestone of 232 goals in March.
Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova expressed his delight at Messi's strike rate.
He said: 'Leo’s records are spectacular. It’s spectacular when you think that he scores so many goals.
'Some few players reach these numbers in seven or eight seasons, he does it in one. And most of his goals are great goals.'

 No doubt this is no good news for Cristiano Ronaldo, who was also on the score sheet last night for Real Madrid.

I wonder what Responds Ronaldo has for this latest feat of Lionel Messi...

 MESSI’S STATS

Age: 25
League appearances this season: 11
League goals this season: 15
Total Barcelona appearances: 328
Total Barcelona goals: 270