Brazilian football legend Pelé congratulated Argentine star Lionel Messi on Saturday after Messi broke Pelé's record for the most international goals in South America. Pelé also apologized for his delayed praise due to undergoing surgery to remove a colon tumor in a hospital in São Paulo.
The former Barcelona star, who transferred this summer to Paris Saint-Germain, broke Pelé's record of 77 international goals on the 9th of this month. He is now the top scorer for national teams in the continent with 79 goals after scoring a hat-trick against Bolivia during the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Pelé included a photo of the Argentine star in a post on Instagram to express his apology for the delay in acknowledging Messi's achievement. Messi broke the three-time World Cup winner's record just four days after Pelé had surgery to remove the tumor.
"I couldn't miss the opportunity to congratulate you on achieving a new record earlier this month. Your talent is unbelievable," Pelé said. He wished for Messi to score "more," alongside Frenchman Kylian Mbappé and fellow countryman Neymar at his new Parisian club.
Pelé, who is 80 years old, is still in a hospital in São Paulo. According to one of his daughters, Kely Nascimento, who posted on her Instagram account on Friday, their father has "taken several steps" in his recovery.
