Remembering ‘Hand of God’: Here’s how Diego Maradona scored his most famous goal in 1986 World Cup
In an immensely unfortunate news that shocked the world, footballing icon Diego Maradona passed away at 60 on Wednesday (November 25) after suffering a cardiac arrest. Maradona was widely considered to be the greatest football player of all time. In a poll that was conducted by FIFA, Maradona was jointly voted as the ‘Player of the Century’ along with Pele.
Pele, the Brazilian maestro, gave his heartfelt tribute to Maradona with an emotional message.
On the football pitch, Maradona had the ability to single-handedly change the fortunes of the game with his mesmerizing dribbling skills – helped even more by his short stature, ensuring a low center of gravity.
Maradona’s mercurial talent was, perhaps, the best on display in the 1986 World Cup. He had inspired Argentina to their second World Cup title in that edition with his stellar performances. In the quarter-final of the tournament against England, Maradona scored the two most famous goals in football history – in a span of just four minutes.
The ‘Hand of God’
While no team could open the scoring in the first half, the second-half of the game scripted itself into the annals of sporting history. In the 51st minute, Mradona played a one-two with his teammate Jorge Valdano inside but English defender Steve Hodge miscued his clearance inside the penalty area and the ball looped up. Even though English goalkeeper Peter Shilton came of his line to clear the goal but Maradona, who had continued his run from earlier on, leapt in the air and slooted the ball with his left hand.
The ‘Hand of God’ goal video is being shared by the fans, remembering Maradona. You can see it here:
We only heard about the ‘Hand Of God’ as a myth but Maradona made that fairytale a reality. An icon. Rest In Peace Legend. We will never forget pic.twitter.com/Xcy0Nw8KWn
— DEEP (@PopularOnyeka) November 25, 2020
The referee Ali Bin Nasser couldn’t see what happened amidst a crowded penalty area and allowed the goal to stand, much to the dismay of the England players.
Maradona later remarked in the post-match press conference that “The goal was scored a little with Maradona’s head and a little with the hand of god” (translated from Spanish). Thus, the goal became infamous as ‘The Hand of God.’
The Goal of the Century
Just four minutes after the ‘Hand of God’, Maradona was once again in business and this time for the right reasons. Justifying his reputation as the best player in the world, he single-handedly beat the whole English defence and drilled the second goal of the game. Years later, in 2002, the goal was voted as the greatest goal of all time.
Diego Maradona, scorer of arguably the greatest World Cup goal of all-time
(via @FIFAWorldCup) pic.twitter.com/r9NgGZHrUs
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 25, 2020
Cutting in from the right side of the midfield, Maradona dribbled for 60 yards all alone – outfoxing Peter Beardsley, Peter Reid, Terry Butcher and Terry Fenwick and then slotting the ball past Peter Shlton into the net.
Even though England striker Gary Linekar pulled one back in the 81st, Maradona did enough to single-handedly capture a memorable win.
The world is still coming to terms with Maradona’s demise with several prominent personalities and fans expressing their sorrow on social media.
Maradona had recently undergone a brain surgery and it only remains to be seen whether his cardiac arrest was a result of that or not.
