By Fernando Kallas
AL RAYYAN, Qatar (Reuters) – Neymar scored in extra time as Brazil were winning 1-0 against Croatia in their World Cup quarter-final on Friday to reach 77 goals and draw level with Pele as the team’s top scorer, a record held by the Brazilian great for 51 years.
The 82-year-old football icon, who is hospitalized in delicate conditions in Sao Paulo due to cancer, scored his last goal for Brazil in a friendly against Austria in 1971.
Pele is the only player to have won the World Cup three times, in 1958, 1962 and 1970, and scored 77 goals in 92 matches.
The 30-year-old Neymar reached 77 goals in his 124th appearance as he is bidding to win his first World Cup title and help Brazil reach a record-extending sixth championship, 20 years after they last won the title in 2002.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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