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On Sunday, Argentine Lionel Messi broke Gerd Muller's 40-year-old record for goals scored in a calendar year. But is he really far from the true record of productivity?
The Zambian Football Federation announced that a player from this country, Godfrey Chitalu, scored 107 goals in the same year as G. Muller. Chitalu, who was named the best Zambian footballer five times, played for his country's national team and the "Kabwe Warriors" team.
Chitalu himself, born in 1947, ended his football career in 1982. He cannot testify to his record, as he died in a plane crash in 1993.
Zambia claims that Chitalu scored 76 goals in 1968 (officially confirmed) and an astonishing 107 goals in 1972. According to the Zambian Football Federation, FIFA overlooked this achievement, so Zambia has formed an independent commission to start working in the archives. The commission's task is to bring back and register all goals scored by Chitalu.
After retiring in 1982, Chitalu spent twelve years at Kabwe Warriors, from 1970 to 1982. After retiring, FIFA awarded him the "Achievement Recognition" award, and he became the coach of the Zambian national team. His FIFA award was for officially recognized achievement - 76 goals in 1976.
Known as "UCAR," Chitalu is considered the greatest Zambian footballer of all time and was included in the top 200 African footballers of the last 50 years in 2006. He scored 103 goals for the Zambian national team.
Chitalu died in 1993 in a famous plane crash that killed thirty people. The entire Zambian national football team, federation representatives, and leaders perished. It was a shock to the whole nation because the team was doing well in the World Cup qualifiers and it was believed that they would make it to the tournament.
FIFA quickly responded to the statement from the Zambian Football Federation and announced that they had heard about this achievement and would soon start working with Africans to resolve the issue. FIFA is expected to receive the results of the investigation by the beginning of next year.
