{"id":2447,"date":"2024-01-11T11:47:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T14:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/?p=2447"},"modified":"2025-10-03T15:38:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T18:38:34","slug":"zico-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/11\/zico-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Zico is not the midfielder with most goals in football history"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_counters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/lang\/pt\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:2px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_c=new Array(\"twitter\",\"facebook_like\",\"facebook_send\",\"pinterest\",\"email\",\"print\",\"linkedin\");var hupso_counters_lang = \"pt_BR\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"blogdootavio\";var hupso_url_c=\"\";var hupso_title_c=\"Zico%20is%20not%20the%20midfielder%20with%20most%20goals%20in%20football%20history\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/counters.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is not unusual, even in Brazil (images below), to see websites and people calling Arthur Antunes Coimbra, the great Zico, as the midfielder with the most goals in football history.\u00a0 In total official and non-official games, he scored 826 goals, according <a href=\"http:\/\/www.zico.com.br\/\">to his own website<\/a>. There is some controversy about his total \u201cofficial goals\u201d (this European anachronic attempt to rewrite Brazilian football history) \u2014 usually people talk about a little more than 500.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2444\" style=\"width: 396px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095618_X.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2444\" class=\" wp-image-2444\" src=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095618_X.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"386\" height=\"757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095618_X.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095618_X-153x300.jpg 153w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095618_X-522x1024.jpg 522w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095618_X-768x1506.jpg 768w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095618_X-783x1536.jpg 783w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095618_X-1044x2048.jpg 1044w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095618_X-816x1600.jpg 816w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 386px) 100vw, 386px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2444\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OficialSala12\/status\/1473068330084880388?t=YddHNBJq9PUcaodWPNhYwQ&amp;s=19\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/OficialSala12\/status\/1473068330084880388?t=YddHNBJq9PUcaodWPNhYwQ&amp;s=19<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_2443\" style=\"width: 418px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095327_X.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2443\" class=\" wp-image-2443\" src=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095327_X.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"408\" height=\"499\" srcset=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095327_X.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095327_X-245x300.jpg 245w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095327_X-837x1024.jpg 837w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095327_X-768x939.jpg 768w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot_20240111_095327_X-816x998.jpg 816w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 408px) 100vw, 408px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2443\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TNTSportsBR\/status\/1744109151238938704?t=d8fDIgh7jhagCxCBDZU8pw&amp;s=19\">https:\/\/twitter.com\/TNTSportsBR\/status\/1744109151238938704?t=d8fDIgh7jhagCxCBDZU8pw&amp;s=19<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Although he was football genius (for me, easily one of the top 15 players ever), the Flamengo legend cannot hold that record, because of the reasons to be explained in this post.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Initially, it is important to explain how most Brazilian teams from the late 50\u2019s to the late 80\u2019s used to play: the 4-2-4. From the midfield to attack, clubs had one \u201cvolante\u201d (the defensive midfielder, number 5), one \u201cmeia-armador\u201d (midfield playmaker, like a center midfielder, number 8), one \u201cponta de lan\u00e7a\u201d (an attacking midfielder who used to play more advanced than similar players on that role today, the number 10), one \u201cponta-direita\u201d (right winger, number 7), one \u201ccentroavante\u201d (center forward, number 9) and one \u201cponta-esquerda\u201d (left winger, number 11).\u00a0 Also, relevant to inform that in Portugal, ponta de lan\u00e7a, unlike in Brazil, means Center Forward (the \u201ccentroavante\u201d in Brazil).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/boladeprata88n962data11111988.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1143\" src=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/boladeprata88n962data11111988.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"593\" height=\"769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/boladeprata88n962data11111988.jpg 593w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/boladeprata88n962data11111988-231x300.jpg 231w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 593px) 100vw, 593px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the above Picture, one can in Placar\u2019s Magazine Bola de Prata award, Zico listed not as a \u201cmeia-armador\u201d, but as a \u201cponta de lan\u00e7a\u201d, position he played during his prime at Flamengo. Yes, the carioca team also used the traditional Brazilian 4-2-4, take for example the 1981 Intercontinental Club Cub winning team: \u201cvolante\u201d (Andrade), \u201cmeia-armador\u201d (Ad\u00edlio), \u201cponta de lan\u00e7a\u201d (Zico), \u201cponta direita\u201d (Tita), \u201ccentroavante\u201d (Nunes) e \u201cponta-esquerda\u201d (Lico). You can see below that the 4-2-4 looked similar to today\u2019s 4-2-3-1.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Flamengo-tatica-1981-Zico.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1207\" src=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Flamengo-tatica-1981-Zico.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"610\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Flamengo-tatica-1981-Zico.jpg 610w, https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Flamengo-tatica-1981-Zico-300x217.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The master Tost\u00e3o, another great \u201cPonta de Lan\u00e7a\u201d (despite playing improvised as a Center Forward in the 1970 World Cup), explains how Zico used to play:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/fsp\/esporte\/fk0903200336.htm\">In the old terminology, Zico was a \u2018ponta de lan\u00e7a\u2019, a forward that retreated to the midfield to get the ball, dribbled, made give and go\u2019s, put his teammates in front of the goalkeeper and scored spectacular goals, of all types. It was the 10. The King Pel\u00e9 and the super great players Maradona, Di Stefano, Cruyff and Platini, also played in this position.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www1.folha.uol.com.br\/fsp\/esporte\/fk0903200336.htm\">The \u2018ponta-de-lan\u00e7a\u2019 was similar to the current playmaker or attacking midfielder, the player who made the link between midfield and attack, like Kak\u00e1, Alex and Zidane and others. The \u2018ponta de lan\u00e7a\u2019 was more of a forward than a playmaker. The current attacking midfielder is more of a playmaker than a forward. Rivaldo and Kak\u00e1 have more characteristics of a \u2018ponta de lan\u00e7a\u2019, forward. Zidane, Alex and Ronaldinho are more like playmakers.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">To reinforce this reasoning, take these lessons from Andr\u00e9 Rocha and Paulo Vincius Coelho (PVC), competent Brazilian Journalists.<\/p>\n<p>Rocha:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/andrerocha.blogosfera.uol.com.br\/2020\/03\/28\/por-que-messi-e-a-evolucao-de-zico-mas-nao-chega-ao-nivel-de-pele\/\">Ponta-de-lan\u00e7a\u201d: football role from the midfielder who play ahead of his teammates from that area, setting up plays and getting closer to the forwards, making a duo in the box with the Center Forward. Creates and finishes. Both bow and arrow at different times.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/andrerocha.blogosfera.uol.com.br\/2020\/03\/28\/por-que-messi-e-a-evolucao-de-zico-mas-nao-chega-ao-nivel-de-pele\/\">Pel\u00e9, Puskas, Maradona, Bobby Charlton, Tost\u00e3o, Leivinha, Alex all played like that. In Brazilian football, Zico was the big standard after Pel\u00e9, as this attacking midfielder who both organized and joined the attack, scores and dish assists, with lots of objectivity. \u201cMy thing was not tricks; it was scoring\u201d, Zico himself claimed.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(&#8230;)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/andrerocha.blogosfera.uol.com.br\/2020\/03\/28\/por-que-messi-e-a-evolucao-de-zico-mas-nao-chega-ao-nivel-de-pele\/\">At some time in history, there was an impression of the end of that playing style, with more attacking midfielders playing wide or becoming forwards. Or going further back to thinking the game from behind, like Zico did in 1989, his last year in Flamengo.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>PVC:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/m.folha.uol.com.br\/colunas\/pvc\/2016\/08\/1805603-no-rio-neymar-usou-o-maracana-como-seu-palco.shtml?mobile\">In the past, the number 10 represented the <em>ponta de lan\u00e7a, <\/em>like Pel\u00e9 and Zico, or the <em>meia-armador, <\/em>like Ademir da Guia and G\u00e9rson, number 8 for Botafogo and Brazil, 10 for S\u00e3o Paulo, two time Paulista Champion in 1970 and 1971.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Notice how Tost\u00e3o, PVC and Rocha, correctly, put Pel\u00e9 and Zico at the same role: \u201cponta de lan\u00e7a\u201d. Just as the Santos great, the Flamengo legend was his club leading scorer, made plays for others, but was not the main playmaker of his team; role of the \u201cmeia-armador\u201d. Also, relevant to underline that Rocha clearly distinguishes Zico from the \u201cmeia-armador\u201d, when he said that the former only \u201cwent further behind in 1989, his last year at Flamego\u201d. To understand more details about Pel\u00e9\u2019s role, I recommend readind my article called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/14\/pele-10-formation\/\">Pel\u00e9 was a true number 10: his position on field and the formations from the golden age of Brazilian football<\/a>\u201d. You can check several evidence, like this one: Pel\u00e9 himself claiming to have been a midfielder:<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 616px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-2447-1\" width=\"616\" height=\"347\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/final_62b86917d2372400808c4b0f_808180.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/final_62b86917d2372400808c4b0f_808180.mp4\">https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/final_62b86917d2372400808c4b0f_808180.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Translation: \u201cI played the midfield role. I always played as a third man; I was never an advanced striker. I would always come from the midfield, because I helped to defend; everybody can see; just watch it\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Well, the more careful reader has probably already predicted the conclusions from this post. I by midfielder, a person means the \u201cmeia-armador\u201d (the main playmaker for the team), Zico never played in that role and thus cannot be listed as a midfielder. If by midfielder, one talks about the \u201cponta de lan\u00e7a\u201d (the attacking midfielder who played behind the Center Forward), then Zico cannot be crowned the midfielder with the most goals in football history, because there was a certain Pel\u00e9, who scored 1.283 total goals (776 \u201cofficial\u201d ones), even more that the great Flamengo legend.<\/p>\n<p>PS: I HAVE WRITTEN IN 10\/03\/2025 AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE ALL-TIME BEST FLAMENGO XI: <a href=\"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/03\/best-flamengo-xi\/\">https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/03\/best-flamengo-xi\/<\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_counters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/lang\/pt\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:2px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_c=new Array(\"twitter\",\"facebook_like\",\"facebook_send\",\"pinterest\",\"email\",\"print\",\"linkedin\");var hupso_counters_lang = \"pt_BR\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"blogdootavio\";var hupso_url_c=\"\";var hupso_title_c=\"Zico%20is%20not%20the%20midfielder%20with%20most%20goals%20in%20football%20history\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/counters.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_counters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/lang\/pt\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:2px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_c=new Array(\"twitter\",\"facebook_like\",\"facebook_send\",\"pinterest\",\"email\",\"print\",\"linkedin\");var hupso_counters_lang = \"pt_BR\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"blogdootavio\";var hupso_url_c=\"\";var hupso_title_c=\"Zico%20is%20not%20the%20midfielder%20with%20most%20goals%20in%20football%20history\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/counters.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p>It is not unusual, even in Brazil (images below), to see websites and people calling Arthur Antunes Coimbra, the great Zico, as the midfielder with the most goals in football history.\u00a0 In total official and non-official games, he scored 826 goals, according to his own website. There is some controversy about his total \u201cofficial goals\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_counters\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/lang\/pt\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:2px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_c=new Array(\"twitter\",\"facebook_like\",\"facebook_send\",\"pinterest\",\"email\",\"print\",\"linkedin\");var hupso_counters_lang = \"pt_BR\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"blogdootavio\";var hupso_url_c=\"\";var hupso_title_c=\"Zico%20is%20not%20the%20midfielder%20with%20most%20goals%20in%20football%20history\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/counters.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[78,2,42,143],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2791,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447\/revisions\/2791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otaviopinto.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}