- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,190,854
- Reaction score
- 59
Editor's note: Follow for live updates from Mexico-England World Cup game!
It is a play that is a crucial part of soccer history, and one that certainly would never happen today.
Diego Maradona ran onto the end of an attempted clearance by England midfielder Steve Hodge, rose past goalkeeper Peter Shilton and put the ball into the net for an opening goal in Argentina's quarterfinal against England at the Estadio Azteca.
Except, it wasn't a header that Maradona put past Shilton. Tather a punch.
The referee, Tunisia's Ali Bin Nasser, didn't see that it was Maradona's hand, not his curly-maned head, that had put the ball into the goal and awarded the goal, with Maradona doing his part to celebrate the goal rather than tip off the official that something may have been amiss.
Sunday, England returns to the Azteca for the first time since going out of the 1986 World Cup in a 2-1 loss to Argentina, which Maradona pushed to the world championship after the controversial moment with wins over Belgium in the semifinals and West Germany in the final.
Rather than come entirely clean or deny the idea that the goal hadn't been scored with his head, the crafty Maradona settled on a third option after the game.
"It was a bit with the head of Maradona, a bit with the hand of God," journalists reported that Maradona said after the game.
The moment followed him for the rest of his career and life, with Maradona addressing it in his autobiography, when he was serving as Argentina manager and played English-speaking countries, and in various interviews until his death in 2020.
The colorful character at times played up the picaresque nature of the move, while other times defending his actions and putting England's 1966 goal to win the World Cup into question.
He said on a television program and in a newspaper interview in 2005 that the goal had been scored with his hand and that if he could change history he would, but that "the goal still is a goal, Argentina was champion of the world and I was the best on the planet."
While the first Maradona goal never would've stood with the Video Assistant Referee system in place today, the second stands as one of the best goals ever scored.
Maradona took the ball near the center circle and danced past two England defenders, then went on a sprint down the right wing. He cut inside to beat another defender, then on the edge of the area shifted once again before dragging the ball back to avoid the outrushing Shilton and rush off to celebrate a second goal.
The goal was only magnified by the commentary from Victor Hugo Morales, an Uruguayan commentator who had moved to Argentina in 1981. Even in the moment, he called it "the best play of all-time" before putting even more color in his call, exclaiming, "Cosmic kite, what planet did you come from?" It is this call that typically accompanies replays of the historic goal and provides the oft-repeated phrase "¡Dios Santo, viva el fútbol!" - "Holy God, Long live football."
The crowd Sunday night will be smaller than the more than 100,000 who packed into the stadium to see Maradona battle England, but the fans will be passionately rooting on their home team. Despite a number of renovations, the Azteca also still sits at an altitude of around 7,350 feet above sea level.
Mexico, which has trained at its high-performance center in the south of the city since early May, and has played just one World Cup match outside Mexico City thus far, hopes that gives them more verve on the field than an England team not accustomed to playing at altitude.
"It’s an iconic stadium," England's German manager Thomas Tuchel said England's 2-1 win over DR Congo in the round of 16. "Germany played there in the final (in 1986). So, I’m super excited to have this match. It’s an iconic match to have in Mexico against Mexico. We will play against the whole country, against the energy of the whole country, in their stadium.”
And, perhaps, against the ghosts of history as well.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What was the 'Hand of God'? Diego Maradona goal still haunts England at World Cup
Continue reading...
It is a play that is a crucial part of soccer history, and one that certainly would never happen today.
Diego Maradona ran onto the end of an attempted clearance by England midfielder Steve Hodge, rose past goalkeeper Peter Shilton and put the ball into the net for an opening goal in Argentina's quarterfinal against England at the Estadio Azteca.
Except, it wasn't a header that Maradona put past Shilton. Tather a punch.
The referee, Tunisia's Ali Bin Nasser, didn't see that it was Maradona's hand, not his curly-maned head, that had put the ball into the goal and awarded the goal, with Maradona doing his part to celebrate the goal rather than tip off the official that something may have been amiss.
Sunday, England returns to the Azteca for the first time since going out of the 1986 World Cup in a 2-1 loss to Argentina, which Maradona pushed to the world championship after the controversial moment with wins over Belgium in the semifinals and West Germany in the final.
How did the goal become known as the Hand of God?
Rather than come entirely clean or deny the idea that the goal hadn't been scored with his head, the crafty Maradona settled on a third option after the game.
"It was a bit with the head of Maradona, a bit with the hand of God," journalists reported that Maradona said after the game.
The moment followed him for the rest of his career and life, with Maradona addressing it in his autobiography, when he was serving as Argentina manager and played English-speaking countries, and in various interviews until his death in 2020.
The colorful character at times played up the picaresque nature of the move, while other times defending his actions and putting England's 1966 goal to win the World Cup into question.
He said on a television program and in a newspaper interview in 2005 that the goal had been scored with his hand and that if he could change history he would, but that "the goal still is a goal, Argentina was champion of the world and I was the best on the planet."
What about Maradona's other goal vs. England, the 'goal of the century'?
While the first Maradona goal never would've stood with the Video Assistant Referee system in place today, the second stands as one of the best goals ever scored.
Maradona took the ball near the center circle and danced past two England defenders, then went on a sprint down the right wing. He cut inside to beat another defender, then on the edge of the area shifted once again before dragging the ball back to avoid the outrushing Shilton and rush off to celebrate a second goal.
The goal was only magnified by the commentary from Victor Hugo Morales, an Uruguayan commentator who had moved to Argentina in 1981. Even in the moment, he called it "the best play of all-time" before putting even more color in his call, exclaiming, "Cosmic kite, what planet did you come from?" It is this call that typically accompanies replays of the historic goal and provides the oft-repeated phrase "¡Dios Santo, viva el fútbol!" - "Holy God, Long live football."
How will England react to the modern-day Estadio Azteca?
The crowd Sunday night will be smaller than the more than 100,000 who packed into the stadium to see Maradona battle England, but the fans will be passionately rooting on their home team. Despite a number of renovations, the Azteca also still sits at an altitude of around 7,350 feet above sea level.
Mexico, which has trained at its high-performance center in the south of the city since early May, and has played just one World Cup match outside Mexico City thus far, hopes that gives them more verve on the field than an England team not accustomed to playing at altitude.
"It’s an iconic stadium," England's German manager Thomas Tuchel said England's 2-1 win over DR Congo in the round of 16. "Germany played there in the final (in 1986). So, I’m super excited to have this match. It’s an iconic match to have in Mexico against Mexico. We will play against the whole country, against the energy of the whole country, in their stadium.”
And, perhaps, against the ghosts of history as well.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What was the 'Hand of God'? Diego Maradona goal still haunts England at World Cup
Continue reading...
