Napoli left-back Faouzi Ghoulam has taken to social media to congratulate teammate Dries Mertens who became the club's leading top-scorer of all time after netting in the 1-1 draw with Inter Milan in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals.
The game marked the return of football in Italy which had been suspended since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic which hit the Mediterranean nation very hard.
The first leg of the tie ended 1-0 at the San San San Siro on February 12 and Inter levelled things up this time with Christian Eriksen's second-minute goal.
Mertens, however, gave Napoli the lead back on aggregate with a well-worked goal assisted by Lorenzo Insigne.
The goal took Mertens to 122 strikes for the Campania capital outfit, ahead of Marek Hamsik (121) Diego Maradona (115), Attila Sallustro (108) and Edinson Cavani (104).
Complimenti amico. Hai scritto la storia: ora sei leggenda 👏🏽
— ghoulam faouzi (@GhoulamFaouzi) June 13, 2020
Félicitations mon ami. Tu as fait l'histoire: maintenant tu es une légende 🙌🏽
Congratulations my friend. You have made history: now you are a legend 🔝@dries_mertens14 ⚽️ #BestScorer @sscnapoli 💙 #FG31 🇩🇿 pic.twitter.com/sq78OzC4NN
"Congratulations my friend. You have made history: now you are a legend," Ghoulam posted on Twitter.
The Algeria international was an unused substitute in Saturday's game at the San Paolo. He has only made five appearances this season, missing the rest due to a muscle injury.
Ghoulam - who was once regarded as one of the best left-backs in the world and under Chelsea's transfer radar, was also limited to just 21 competitive appearances last season because of a knee problem that required surgery.
He joined Napoli from Saint-Etienne in January 2014 and has made 179 appearances, scoring three goals and providing 26 assists.
The 29-year-old also missed Algeria's 2019 Africa Cup of Nations triumph in Egypt.
His last international outing was in a 1-0 home defeat by Zambia on September 5, 2017 during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Ghoulam has won 37 caps for Algeria, scoring five goals and providing nine assists. He participated at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil where the Desert Foxes reached the Round of 16 before losing in extra time to eventual champions Germany.
He also participated at the 2015 and 2017 Afcon, failing to progress from the group phase in the former and reaching the quarter-finals in the latter, losing 3-1 to tournament winners, Ivory Coast.