Godfrey Chitalu-- that's who. The Zambian soccer great is apparently not receiving the recognition he deserves. The striker allegedly scored 107 goals in the calendar year of 1972 for the Kabwe Warriors and the national team, this according to the Zambian FA, who has put together an independent squad of stat checkers to search the archives and produce the documentation confirming the feat to FIFA.
Apparently, FIFA has already signed off on a number of friendly matches played by Zambia in their official archives, counting them in the record books, but has yet to implement those numbers to
Chitalu's individual statistics. Should they be applied, the Zambian would be the rightful owner of the goal scoring record.
That would potentially leave Lionel Messi 17 goals short with two matches left in 2012. Naturally, the level of competition is vastly uneven, but that is not the issue up for debate. The record itself is a remarkable achievement for any player, though, at the same time largely irrelevant.
Unfortunately, Chitalu is not alive to take part in his country's arguement, as he was one of the victims of the Zambian air disaster that wiped out the 1993 national team when it crashed off the shores of Gabon.
At the very least, Chitalu is deserving of mention, even if records prove he falls short of Messi, Gerd Muller and Pele.
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