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Shilton congratulates Brazilian goalkeeper Fabio on breaking record / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Shilton congratulates Brazilian goalkeeper Fabio on breaking record
England goalkeeping legend Peter Shilton hailed Fluminense shot stopper Fabio breaking his record for most competitive appearances in men's football as a "brilliant achievement".
Fabio, 44, broke Shilton's mark on Tuesday when he played for a 1,391st time in the 2-0 win over Colombia's America de Cali at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
"Huge congratulations to Fabio Deivson Lopes Maciel for beating my @GWR a record I was proud to hold for over 28 years for the most competitive matches in the history of football," said Shilton in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
"Keeping the record within the keepers union BRILLIANT achievement Fabio #proud @FIFAcom @FA."
Fluminense and Brazilian media say Fabio now stands alone in football history, although neither FIFA nor regional body CONMEBOL has declared it a record.
"Sometimes we don't realise the importance of such a significant achievement as breaking this record, which has stood for many years," Fabio, who has spent his entire career in Brazil, said following his clean sheet in the Copa Sudamericana last 16 second leg.
The home fans chanted, "Fabio is the best goalkeeper in Brazil," and he received a commemorative plaque to mark the achievement.
"No one plays so many matches without a level of professionalism like his," said Fluminense coach Renato Gaucho.
"He'll undoubtedly continue to play for a long time.
"It will be difficult for another player to surpass his record."
Fabio won the Copa Libertadores with Fluminense in 2023 and was part of the side that reached the semi-finals of the Club World Cup in the United States this summer.
He made 976 appearances for Cruzeiro between 2005 and 2022, after playing 30 times for Uniao Bandeirante and another 150 games for Vasco da Gama.
His record outing against America de Cali was his 235th match for Fluminense.
Fabio began his career in 1997, the year that Shilton retired, but unlike the former record holder was never capped at senior level.
The 75-year-old 125-times capped Englishman, who was a key member of the Nottingham Forest side that won successive European Cups (1979/80), considers his total number of appearances to be 1,387, but Guinness World Records puts the number at 1,390.
S. Soerensen--BTZ
