# The 1,000th goal (1969)

> On 19 November 1969 Pelé scored his 1,000th goal by the count of the time, a penalty at the Maracanã that stopped the country.

Source page: https://pele.wiki/footballer/chapters/the-1000th-goal-1969
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Os_Sant%C3%A1sticos

- Began: 19 November 1969
- Ended: 19 November 1969

By the late 1960s Pelé's goal count was followed in Brazil the way other countries follow an election. The tally kept by Santos and the press included every goal: league and cup matches, but also friendlies, foreign tours, and games for military and state teams. In late 1969 it approached 1,000.

Santos played Vasco da Gama at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro on 19 November 1969, in the national championship. The score was 1–1 late in the second half when the referee gave Santos a penalty. Pelé took it. The Argentine goalkeeper, Edgardo Andrada, guessed the right way and touched the ball, but could not keep it out.

Photographers and fans poured onto the pitch. He was carried around the ground, and in the interviews that followed he dedicated the goal to the children of Brazil, asking people to think about poor children who needed food and clothes. The goal became known as *O Milésimo*, "the thousandth". Brazil's post office issued a commemorative stamp, and Santos won the match 2–1.

How many of those goals came in official matches is a different question. Statisticians who count only competitive games give him far fewer at that date, and his career total in official matches is put at between about 757 and 775. The milestone was real by the standard of its time, which counted friendlies freely. Accounts of the night also differ in details such as the minute of the goal and the size of the crowd.

The same year brought another story often told about Pelé. When Santos toured Nigeria in 1969, during the civil war, it is said that the two sides agreed a ceasefire of 48 hours so people could watch him play. Santos drew 2–2 with Stationery Stores in Lagos, with Pelé scoring both goals. But the story is disputed. One early source for it is a 1975 article in *Ebony* magazine. Local researchers have found no contemporary report of a ceasefire, some versions place the match in Benin City instead, and Pelé himself said he was not sure there had been one, only that security was very tight.

## Related

- What the chapter is about: [Santos 2–1 Vasco da Gama](https://pele.wiki/footballer/matches/santos-2-1-vasco-da-gama-1969), [The 1,000th goal](https://pele.wiki/footballer/goals/the-1000th-goal), [Vasco da Gama](https://pele.wiki/footballer/teams/vasco-da-gama), [Santos FC](https://pele.wiki/footballer/teams/santos), [Maracanã Stadium](https://pele.wiki/footballer/locations/maracana), [Rio de Janeiro](https://pele.wiki/footballer/locations/rio-de-janeiro), [Nigeria](https://pele.wiki/footballer/locations/nigeria), [Lagos](https://pele.wiki/footballer/locations/lagos)
- The questions it answers: [When did Pelé score his 1,000th goal?](https://pele.wiki/footballer/questions/when-did-pele-score-his-1000th-goal)