15.1.16

Pe de Ouro




                                         Friedenreich with the Brazil team 1925

Arthur Friedenreich had a phenomenal goal scoring record. It is possible that he was the most prolific scorer in the history of the game.
Let's look at the statistics (or the reputed statistics) associated with Fried:
It has been traditionally asserted that he scored 1239 goals in 1329 games. This figure was supposedly the outcome of a contemporary record which was the work of 2 people; Friedenreich's father and his Paulistano team mate Mário de Andrade e Silva.  If we accept that Fried's career lasted from 1909 (when he was 17) until 1935 1329  games would equate to a shade over 49 games a season.  The scoring rate is 0.93 goals per game.
When Andrade died the records that he and Friedenreich Senior had kept were lost.
A journalist named De Vanney firstly accepted these figures as being accurate and then inexplicably reversed them to promote the claim that Fried had scored 1329 goals in 1239 games. This would have represented a strike rate of 1.07 goals per game.
Other figures (based on analysis of contemporary reports) have been 554 goals in 561 games (Alexandre da Costa) and 558 goals in 562 games (Severino Filho).
A detailed season by season record that appears on RSSSF Brazil gives figures of 557 goals in 562 games (acknowledging the absence of reliable records for a number of matches). This gives a strike rate of 0.99 goals per game. 

Looking at this apparently comprehensive record of the matches that Friedenreich played in during his adult life it is hard to imagine where the 767 unrecorded matches (and 682 goals) could have come? There have been suggestions that Andrade might have included scratch matches and Torneio Início Paulista (in which teams would play a number of matches of 20 minutes in one day). Even if this was the case the defecit of 30 matches a season (spread over his entire career) seems excessive. 
I am inclined to believe the RSSSF Brazil figures which whilst not accounting for the 1000+ goals that others claim for Fried, are very impressive indeed:


Year
Team
Matches
Goals

1909
Germânia
1
*

1910   
Ypiranga
2
*

1911
Germânia
13
6*

1912
Mackenzie
11
15
Liga Paulista top scorer
Seleção Brasileira
1
2

Combinado Paulista
2


Combinado Brasileiro
2
1*

1913
Ypiranga
8
5

Americano
5


Combinado Brasileiro
2
1

Seleção Paulista
1


Paulista
1
*

1914
Paulista
2


Atlas
1
1

Ypiranga
12
16
Liga Paulista top scorer
Seleção Paulista
5
3

Ypiranga/Paulistano
1
2

São Bento/Ypiranga
1
2

Seleção Brasileira
4
1

1915
Seleção Paulista
2
2

Ypiranga
12
7

Paysandu
3
*

1916
Paysandu
6
4*

Seleção Paulista
2
3

Paulistano
2


Seleção Brasileira
4
1

1917
Ypiranga
6
14
Liga Paulista top scorer
Flamengo
1


Paulistano
6
1*

Seleção Paulista
4
8

Seleção Brasileira
1
1

1918
Paulistano
15
25
Liga Paulista top scorer
Seleção Paulista
8
14

Seleção Brasileira
1


1919
Paulistano
21
28
Liga Paulista top scorer
Seleção Paulista
1
2

Seleção Brasileira
4
4
Campeonato Sul-Americano top scorer
1920
Seleção Paulista
1
3

Tutu/Miranda
1
1

Paulistano
20
37

1921
Paulistano
22
35
Liga Paulista top scorer
Bela Vista/Consolação
1
1

1922 
Seleção Paulista
5
9

Paulistano
20
20

Seleção Brasileira
2
0

1923
Seleção Paulista
3
2

Paulistano
17
17

Paulistano/Palestra
1
2

Paulistano/Flamengo
1


1924
Paulistano
24
26

1925
Paulistano
23
17

Seleção Paulista
2
3

Seleção Brasileira
4
2

1926 
Paulistano
23
14*

Seleção Paulista
3
1

1927
Paulistano
15
17
Liga Paulista top scorer
Combinado De Brancos
2
2

1928
Seleção Paulista
2
4

Combinado Jacaré
1
*

Paulistano
23
32
Liga Paulista top scorer
Combinado De Brancos
1


1929
Paulistano
24
20
Liga Paulista top scorer
Seleção Paulista
7
6

Internacional
1
1

Atlëtico Santista
1
1

1930
Santos
1


São Paulo
31
32

Seleção Paulista
3
3

São Paulo/Palestra
2
3

Mackenzie Alumni
1


Seleção Brasileira
1
1

1931
São Paulo
26
33

Seleção Paulista
9
9

1932
São Paulo
18
8*

1933
São Paulo
17
4*

Dois De Julho
1
1

1934
São Paulo
26
14

São Paulo/Santos
1
1

1935
São Paulo
6
3

Santos
5
1