Thirty years on and Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal still rankles English football fans
GIVEN the passions it still arouses the “Hand of God” incident could have happened yesterday. But three decades ago today two football rivals met for a World Cup showdown that now lives on in infamy.
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GIVEN the passions it still arouses the “Hand of God” incident could have happened yesterday. But three decades ago today two passionate football rivals met for a World Cup quarter-final showdown that now lives on in infamy.
Arch enemies England and Argentina met on June 22, 1986, in a match that is better remembered than the final because of soccer star Diego Maradona’s suspect goal.
It has become known as the “Hand of God” goal because Maradona later admitted it was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”. His infringement went unnoticed by the referee and linesmen, English protests were ignored as the Argentinians cheered, acting as if there were no doubt at all that it was a goal.
While Maradona was lauded by some for his cunning and even attributed the goal to a certain amount of divine intervention, to many it was the hand of the devil at work.
The rivalry between England and Argentina has deep roots, only some of which are from soccer.
The British once had colonial designs on the country, invading Buenos Aires and Montevideo in 1806 and 1807. In the 19th and 20th centuries British financial interests in the country resulted in the 1933 Roca-Runciman treaty, which treated Argentina like a financial colony of the British Empire.
But the biggest sticking point was the Falkland Islands, or Malvinas as the Argentinians knew it, a group of windswept islands in the south Atlantic. The islands had changed hands several times before the British had asserted sovereignty in the 1830s.
Feeling that the islands were rightfully theirs but failing to have their claims recognised by peaceful means, Argentina invaded in 1982. The British sent a fleet to take it back, a conflict which cost the lives of 258 British and 655 Argentinians.
Emotions between England and Argentina were still raw when the two countries met four years later in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final match in Mexico. Beating those who had defeated them in the war would have a certain satisfaction, but there was also kudos in beating the original inventors of modern soccer who had often struggled at the World Cup.
England had won the World Cup once, in 1966. Argentina had won in 1978 but had been unable to defend their title. Both were hungry for victory.
In 1986 Argentina had arguably the world’s greatest player, Maradona. Born in 1960 he grew up in a poor shanty town and made his professional debut at 16. Just 17 when Argentina made the cup finals in 1978 he had somewhat controversially been denied a spot in the final because the manager Cesar Menotti didn’t want to entrust the game to such a young player.
Maradona scored two goals against Hungary in a first-round match of the 1982 World Cup, but otherwise failed to live up to expectations, being sent off in a second round game for kicking a Brazilian player in the groin.
In 1986 he was eager to redeem himself and be part of a winning team.
While Argentina had Maradona, England had Gary Lineker. Maradona had a reputation as a bad boy but Lineker would later be lauded for his fair play, never getting a red or yellow card in his entire professional career.
When the two teams met at Estadio Azteca in the quarter-final match on June 22, 1986, crowds were expecting something great. In the days before the match English and Argentine fans had fought in the streets of Mexico, it would also be a hard fight on the field.
The first half ended with the score at 0-0 but six minutes into the second half Maradona beat the English goalkeeper Peter Shilton to the ball near the goal and appeared to either head it or hit it with his hand into the back of the net.
While the English immediately protested, Maradona shrewdly told his teammates to congratulate him to remove any doubt in the minds of the referee, Tunisian Ali Bin Nasser, and his linesmen who had missed seeing the crucial moment.
The goal stood and four minutes later Maradona scored the “Goal of the century” running about 60m dodging four English defenders and perplexing Shilton with a brilliant feint that left him on the ground while the ball hit the net. The score was 2-0.
Lineker’s goal in the 80th minute (which won him the golden boot for most goals of the tournament) put the score at 2-1. Argentina won the game and went on to win the cup.
No amount of protesting from the English could reverse that result, which still rankles to this day.
Originally published as Thirty years on and Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal still rankles English football fans
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