Diego Armando Maradona: Anniversary of the birth of the Hand of God and the most memorable goal in World Cup history!

Diego Armando Maradona celebrates today the anniversary of the birth of the Hand of God. The English still shake their heads in disbelief at what the Argentine boy did to them 36 years ago.

Fans at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico were amazed by a 25-year-old boy from Argentina

The 1986 football year was marked by the World Cup hosted by Mexico. The date was 22 June 1986 and the national teams of Argentina and England were battling it out for the semi-finals of the championship.

The then 25-year-old Argentine made his presence known with his performances in the tournament, but only scored one goal in the group and eight-final matches. But his moment was yet to come.

115,000 spectators at the Aztec Stadium in Ciudad de México watched football history being written in very bold letters. History remembered only one name from the match, and that was Diego Armando Maradona.

In the 51st minute of the quarter-final against England, the hand of God was born

It was the 51st minute of the game and it was the Naples star who headed the ball through the middle, Maradona made it all the way to the opposition’s whitewash. However, the pass was unluckily picked up by England defender Steve Hodge and an aerial duel between the Argentine striker and goalkeeper Peter Shilton took place in the penalty area.

The controversial moment, when Maradona indicated a touch with his head but got the ball into the net with his hand, was not spotted by Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur. The goal scored in violation of the rules was thus conceded and the Argentines took the lead.

The footballer himself, in immediate response to protests from England players including Sir Bobby Charlton, said he had never scored a more regular goal in his life. After the game, following the reaction to the handball, he described the goal as “God’s hand”.

Four minutes later, Maradona scored one of the most beautiful goals in football history

Four minutes later, Maradona showed even more of his footballing prowess. After taking the ball in his own half, he made cones of all the English players and went through them and goalkeeper Shilton like a knife through butter.

Maradona’s breathtaking solo took the world by storm and became one of the most memorable goals in the history of sport. The whole match was a game that made football history and Maradona eventually led his beloved Argentina to the World Cup title.

It’s no wonder that for a long time in Argentina, Maradona was compared to God. 1986 was the last year for the football nation in which Argentina won the World Cup title. It was even more of a shock to the country when Maradona breathed his last for his country in November 2020.

Source: Wikipedia, Twitter