It all started with Pele.
His legendary tally of 1,281 goals sits as a sacred marker. The great benchmark.
Except we all know it is mostly bunk. Pele included goals from friendlies and exhibition games to bolster that figure.
Can we get there for real? Or, Football Manager for real? I was one of a brave few to seek 1000 goals in competitive games.
The obvious place to do this is Brazil, not just because of the Pele connection, but because of the presence of the State Championships. As one of the top division teams the majority of the opposition will be below your standard, allowing for goalscoring opportunities aplenty.
Having chosen Brazil the next choice to make was the player. The club was less important. As this mission was taking place in Brazil there are plenty of young players to choose from. I opted for Lincoln at Flamengo.
At the start of the save Lincoln is 16 years old, giving me the potential of almost 20 years to reach the marker, even then it would require 50 goals a year.
2018
The first season started well with 64 goals in all competitions. Of these 32 were scored in the first division. Lincoln finished as top scorer, which he would every season. He would have to if he was to reach the goal.
I made the decision early on that Lincoln would be on all free kicks withing shooting range as well as penalties. It might cost the team some goals, but every single goal it could gain Lincoln would be worth it. At the point when I put a halt to the same Lincoln had scored 194 penalties from 229 taken for Flamengo.
2019
The Brazil manager job became available. I decided that I would take it and call Lincoln up. My logic was that if he is scoring the number of goals required to break the record he will be called up. If he scores those goals with me as his manager they will count towards his tally. When the save was halted Lincoln had scored 75 goals in 88 games for Brazil. In certain seasons Lincoln’s international appearances would impact upon his club appearances.
2020
International fixtures heavily impacted the number of appearances Lincoln made for Flamengo. The previous season yielded an excellent 72 goal return, this season yielded 69 goals.
2021
As healthy as the circa 70 goal hauls have been it was becoming apparent that more would be needed in order to reach the target.
Tactically I have just used a formation that has proven to be high scoring in leagues around the world. A simple 4-4-2 with the left sided striker more prolific than the right sided striker.
I thought it would be a good idea to switch in another formation that funnelled towards a lone striker. I switched between the two systems during the season, choosing the lone striker formation for games against weaker teams.
2022
A landmark campaign. As well as 1000 goals overall, a sub target was 100 goals in a season. This would be season where Lincoln reached that mark. I used three different systems during the season. My regular 4-4-2 was great for blowing teams away while the other two both fed into Lincoln. It would take until the final game in World Club Championship for Lincoln to hit the 100 goals for the season landmark.
2023
This season I stuck with my 4-4-2. The previous season was all about hitting the 100 goal barrier. This season I had a different objective, to smash all opponents. This season was about the team, rather than Lincoln and I enjoyed it all the more because of it. Lincoln still manage to notch 86 times, is second best season.
2024
This was the most stop start and least enjoyable season of the whole save. Lincoln stumbled from injury to injury and a large number of international fixtures. He also had a very low number of penalties, with just 11, meaning that his goal tally was far lower than usual.
Another issue this season was the State Championship. In order to have a good goals tally twenty plus state goals would always be needed. This season he only scored a dozen.
2025
Back with a bang. This season the 100 goal barrier was smashed through, with 103 goals in all competitions, including a very healthy 18 in the Copa Libertadores. Lincoln scored goals in every competition. The Libertadores was no different, as he extended dominated the scoring records. In all Lincoln scored 179 Libertadores goals.
2026
A far more fluent year as there was only one halt to the season for the World Cup. Lincoln won two World Cups but was never at his best in these tournaments, only scoring four goals in two tournaments. He seemed to save his form for the Copa America.
2027
The first of two back to 100 plus goal seasons. In this season Lincoln would equal his best goal total for the Brazilian Cup, a competition where he did not dominate the scoring charts in the same way as the other competitions. His appearances were often effected by international call ups.
2028
A huge goalscoring return that would leave Lincoln within touching distance of the 1000 goal target. At one point it looked as though he might break it during this season, but he slowed. None the less 104 goals in 68 games was an exceptional total. As Lincoln grew older he became less reliant on penalties and scored all types of goals. Being mentored by players like Gabriel Jesus and Malcom along the way certainly helped his traits develop.
Records would also be broken in the Copa Libertadores. Lincoln scored 10 times to set a new tournament record. He would fail to score in the final, but powered in two hat-tricks and a brace. In all Lincoln scored 20 Copa America goals for Brazil.
2029
To the fateful season and the fateful game. An unspectacular clash in the State Championship. Lincoln scored just before half time to arrive on 999 competitive goals. In the final moments he slotted home a penalty kick to reach that magical 1000th goal. Echoing Pele, who also scored a penalty to reach 1000 career goals. The difference was, not one of these goals was scored in a friendly or exhibition. Lincoln was just 28 when he scored the goal, with many more seasons left in front of him. I might have decided to go after other targets, 1000 club goals, 100 international goals and 1000 league goals. However, the relief at reaching the 1000 was enough. It was time to close the pages on this particular story.
Career Totals
International Games – 88
International Goals – 75
Club Games – 749
Club Goals – 925
League Games – 503
League Goals – 639
Total Games – 837
Total Goals – 1,000