Zambians lay claim to Lionel Messi's goal record

Zambians are contesting Lionel Messi’s record of the Most Goals scored in a calendar year - claiming it belongs to ex Chipolopolo striker Godfrey Chitalu.

The Barcelona forward smashed the long-standing record of German great Gerd Muller by hitting his 86^th goal this year over the weekend in the La Liga match at Real Betis.

According to seasoned Zambian broadcaster Dennis Liwewe, ex Chipolopolo striker Godfrey Chitalu is the ‘true’ holder of the record having scored ‘107 goals in 1972’.

“We have heard the news and read in the papers about this 86 goals by Messi (Lionel) and it has become a complete surprise to us because we had to go into our records and discovered that Godfrey (Chilatu) already scored 107 goals in one season (year) alone in 1972,” Liwewe told the BBC.

“League matches, Cup final matches, Central African competitions, Africa Cup matches, World Cup preliminary matches for Africa and the Olympic Games that we participated in so it was really recorded 107 goals in one season.”

FIFA however says it has no such record of the claimed achievement of Godfrey Chilatu who died alongside 29 others in a plane crash after honouring a World Cup qualifier against Senegal.

But the Zambians insist they have requisite proof to back their claim.

“Surely if they (FIFA) lost the record, don’t make us responsible for that,” Liwewe added.

“If they couldn’t remember one of the greatest players the world has ever produced, if they didn’t keep the record then it is not our fault, we have the record.”

It will be a major discovery if it is eventually proven Chitalu is indeed the true holder of the record which on the basis of the remaining matches this season, cannot be broken.

This will bring further honour and joy to the people of Zambia following their Nations Cup success early this year.

The Chipolopolo beat Ghana in the semi finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea before claiming a penalty shootout win against Ivory Coast in the grand finale.

They again inflicted another painful 1-0 defeat on the Black Stars in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers of which they now lie top of the preliminary Group D with two matches played.

Do the Zambians have a case against Lionel Messi’s record or is this just a hoax?

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