The £500,000 shirt? Mystery and maths of Pelé's 1,000th goal a compelling backdrop to Wembley auction

Mystery and maths of Pelé's 1,000th goal a compelling backdrop to Wembley auction

- Neil Duncanson

It was 14 November 1969. For the world's greatest player, it wasn't the best penalty. More an untidy scuff into the bottom corner. But it was enough for Pelé and his Santos team to open the scoring in a 3-0 friendly win over Botafogo da Paraiba. More importantly, it marked the great man's 999th senior goal. Or did it?

Five days later, Santos travelled to Rio de Janeiro to face Vasco da Gama in a cup game and it seemed as if the entire nation was jammed into the Maracanã to witness a piece of history. Despite a tropical rainstorm, every TV station, radio network and newspaper elbowed their way along the touchline waiting for the magic moment to happen. It duly arrived in the 78th minute and, disappointingly, it was another penalty. This time Pelé stroked it into the right corner. None of the supernatural grace, style and balance he was so famous for, but it was still celebrated as if Brazil had won the World Cup.

Santos won the game 2-1 but no one in the 80,000 crowd seemed to care. As the final whistle blew, thousands poured out of the stands and the great man was paraded around the pitch and carried off shoulder high. The celebrations in Rio lasted days and the achievement merited equal billing on the Brazilian front pages to Apollo 12's landing on the moon.

It was Pelé's 1,000th career goal. Or was it? More than a quarter of a century later a Brazilian journalist tried to tidy up the chaotic statistics around Pelé's career and, horror of horrors, he discovered a lost goal.