Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Argentina coach Diego Maradona still ...



Argentina coach Diego Maradona still firing from the lip


The language of Diego Maradona has been deemed difficult to decode but there was no such trickery in Scotland, as Maradona projected himself as a man without artifice – and, to the profound dismay of England fans everywhere, utterly without contrition.


Scotland v Argentina
Kick-off: Weds Nov 19, 20.00; Hampden Park, Glasgow
TV: Sky Sports 1
Radio: BBC Radio Scotland


A Maradona press conference is invariably a theatrical event, his emotional range rivalling that of the most inspired actors. So we should mark the time and place accordingly: at 4.32pm, or 2.32pm in Argentina – Maradona wears two watches wherever he travels, one set to the time back home – in the ballroom of Glasgow's Radisson Hotel, 'El Diego' strode in to face the flashbulbs and to deliver a performance of effortless flair. Whether on his mission as national team manager or on the future of Lionel Messi, he was never less than compelling. Plus there was one exquisite moment in which he punctured delusions of English grandeur just as emphatically as he did in 1986.


Let it not be forgotten that Maradona - in Glasgow for Wednesday night's game against Scotland at Hampden Park - revels in references to the 'Hand of God'. He coined the phrase himself in Mexico City when, with England vanquished in a World Cup quarter-final only an hour before, he told assembled journalists at the Azteca Stadium that his outrageous first goal had been scored "con la mano de Dios". So when asked if he felt the faintest touch of remorse, he treated the temerity of the reporter – English, of course – with a curled lip of contempt.


"England won the World Cup with a goal that never crossed the line," he countered. What? The atmosphere in the room crackled. The debate over whether Geoff Hurst's second goal in the 1966 final did or did not creep over the line has become so hackneyed as to have been almost abandoned, but here it again assumed the most extreme urgency. Old enmities between England and Argentina, with Maradona the most enduring emblem, resurfaced at a single utterance. But there was more. "The ball was that far short of a line," he said, with an expansive hand gesture to express great distance. "It's not fair that you should judge me when things like that went on."


The words were said with the brightest twinkle in his eye but the damage was done – English national pride had been affronted as if in deadly seriousness. The Scots loved it, naturally. English opprobrium towards Maradona is matched by Scottish appreciation, and his portrayals in the local newspapers, anticipating Maradona's arrival in Glasgow for his first match in charge of Argentina, have been akin to canonisation.


"God comes to Hampden" said one banner headline; "Give a hand to Maradona" read another. The Scottish congregation of the 'Church of Maradona' even gathered outside the hotel entrance to pay homage. So transcendent a figure has he become that the mutterings from the Scotland camp have seemed meaningless. None more so than those of Terry Butcher, Scotland's assistant manager and, far more pertinently, the most hapless victim of Maradona's second goal at the Azteca, for which the striker danced around the England defence with a devilish weave.


Butcher had churlishly claimed that he would not shake Maradona's hand on the Hampden touchline, the wounds over a palmed goal 22 years ago apparently being still too raw. Maradona cared not one iota: "I'm not going to seek him out, I don't know why Butcher is taking this attitude. If people are fine with me, I will greet them." The tone was supremely dismissive. "I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. If he doesn't shake my hand, I'll still be alive tomorrow." Somehow, his sharp tongue made Butcher look as insignificant as when his slaloming steps left the centre-back for dust.


So by this stage it was Argentina 2, England 0 – even more emphatic than on the pitch. But in Maradona's combative rhetoric there were traces of emollience, notably when he was asked to name the players by whom he had been most influenced. Kevin Keegan was the first name to pass his lips, perhaps the most distinguished recognition that Keegan, in a garlanded career, had ever received. The only anxiety is that Maradona does not go on to be a manager in the Keegan mould, beloved of his people but a loose cannon and a liability the second he is in sight of a technical area.


Already Maradona has been guilty of diplomatic lapses, having used Fifa president Sepp Blatter's notorious remark about the slavery of modern football to argue that Blatter himself was a slave, "there to serve us". But yesterday he was calmer. There would be no histrionics from him at Wednesday's friendly. "My main priority is team. If they are making me feel safe and sound, I'll be fine."


But even his most ardent disciples know better than to believe that. One school of thought holds that his health problems – and 'problems' they are, after alcoholism, hepatitis and cocaine-induced heart attacks – make his management of Argentina inherently too fragile and destined to fail. Then one considers the dearth of coaching experience: his only two spells at club level, with Mandiyu of Corrientes and Racing Club in the mid-Nineties, were both inglorious and ominously brief.


Yet in the madness of the moment, none of this mattered, not to him and assuredly not to his rapt audience. The grand expectations of Argentina might be gathering around him once more but he shrugged: "I don't feel under any pressure whatsoever. If I hadn't accepted this offer I would have been a coward." Maradona has acquired enough epithets in his time but, as his remarkable reinvention attests, coward is not one of them.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/scotland/3479821/Argentina-coach-Diego-Maradona-still-firing-from-the-lip-Football.html














Arty Latino














Colección Íconos Argentinos
(Argentine icons collection)

Ida y Vuelta
 

















Politics, sports, tango, and their protagonists are just some of the passions deeply rooted in Argentina’s imaginary. That is why a history plenty of images is more than enough material to be captured in Arty Latino’s flips and included in its Argentine Icons collection.












The goal of the century




















Buy at Tematika Buy at Amazon




The goal of the century (El gol del siglo)


MEXICO, JUNE 22ND, 1986. ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN… THAT afternoon, in the unforgettable match between Argentina and England, Diego Maradona built up – step by step, inch by inch and in only ten seconds– the most extraordinary goal in the history of football. The “Hand of God” goal had been scored just a few minutes before, and within a few days, Argentina would achieve its second World Cup.



 
 










The hand of God




















Buy at Tematika Buy at Amazon




The hand of God (La mano de Dios)


DID HE USE HIS HAND? TO ADMIT THE TRUTH OF WHAT IS WAS CONSIDERED for so many years a secret shared by millions and millions of witnesses that watched it on TV, it’s just a minor anecdote. What no one can deny after “that” goal on June 22nd, 1986 vs. England, is Diego Maradona’s outstanding ability to conjure the most extraordinary plays ever seen. Some minutes later the Goal of the Century would be scored, and in a few days Argentina would win it’s second World Cup.
He did use his hand. Who cares?



 
 










Evita inmortal




















  Buy at Tematika




Evita inmortal


REGISTERED OF THE HUMBLE ONES, QUEEN OF THE “DESCAMISADOS”.
Leader of people who loved her madly, but also one of the most controversial figures in the Argentinean history of the XX century. Eva Perón lived fast and died young, like a movie star,
as a revolutionary gleam. She was only thirty three years old
–in 1952– when the myth, the myth that today the whole world knows as “Evita, the immortal”, was born.



 
 










Che lives




















  Buy at Tematika




Che Lives (El Che vive)


WHAT’S THE DISTANCE THAT SEPARATES A MAN FROM A MYTH? SOME SAY IT’S History. The time that takes a look to become a universal picture. Ernesto Guevara, known as “Che”, has always walked a step forward in History, always ahead. That’s why his eyes were and still are the eyes of many of his former and present followers: a lively way to see the world. What’s the distance that separates “that” kind of men from a myth? Just one step.



 
 










Gardel




















Buy at Tematika Buy at Amazon




Gardel


THE ‘MOROCHO FROM THE ABASTO’, AN ICON FROM BA. THE LEGEND IS
popularized as time goes by and Carlos Gardel excels his own myth to turn into a pagan image, having the world at his feet. The man with the unmistakable and rapturous voice has a colorful smile which evades sepia and black and white apathy. The ‘Zorzal Criollo’ sings better that ever, that’s for sure. But he is also a heavenly dancer who shaves the floor by stamping his feet and following
his heart.



 
 










Sandro de América




















  Buy at Tematika




Sandro of America (Sandro de América)


THE SO-CALLED ‘GITANO’ UNLEASHES PASSION AND HYSTERIA AS HE SHAKES ON STAGE. Like a few in Argentina, Sandro knows the formula to make the masses quiver with excitement: his gorgeous voice and sensual waist, his handsome profile and songs performed on screen. A wild combination of fatal, irresistible insolence and voluptuous movements. When Gitano swings a whole continent trembles... that’s why he is called not only Sandro but also ‘Sandro de América’.



 
 










Villa Fiorito




















  Buy at Tematika




Villa Fiorito


WHAT WAS DIEGO MARADONA DREAMING ABOUT BEFORE TURNING INTO MARADONA? Those days at Villa Fiorito, the neighbourhood that saw him grow up, witnessed the black and white passion of a boy beginning to wear the myth clothes. Glory. Fame and worldcups were to come later, naturally. First, one dream had to be dreamt: to be Diego Maradona.



 
 





Caja 20 Aniversario

















  Buy at Tematika




20th Anniversary Edition Box (The Goal of the Century + Hand of God + Villa Fiorito)


MÉXICO, JUNE 22ND 1986. Both of Maradona´s goals against the English cannot be understood separately. They complement each other and make up a whole, which constitutes a real epic of the Argentine. None of them are enough on their own. That afternoon, twenty years ago, the cheating goal, the irregular goal The Hand of God, was completed with the extraordinary goal, the best of any goal ever scored: The Goal of the Century.
Martín Kohan

http://www.artylatino.com.ar/content/eng_flip_iconos.php
Argentines preach tough love to Maradona

Damian Wroclavsky | May 14, 2004 16:31 IST


Perhaps nowhere else in the world has soccer hero-turned cocaine addict Diego Maradona attracted as much veneration as in the ramshackle neighbourhood where he was born into poverty 43 years ago.


But even a few metres from his former family home, now occupied by rubbish scavengers, worship is tainted with disappointment over the antics of the overweight idol who has become a ghost of the man who almost single-handedly won the World Cup 18 years ago.



"I hope he's getting better, that he managed to get out of all this shit he's taking," said childhood friend Jose, 42, who lives near Maradona's former house in Villa Fiorito, a shanty of wooden houses and sewage-strewn streets on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.














Also Read














Maradona faces "last chance"

Maradona says fans saved his life

Argentines remain faithful to Maradona


"He has been corrupted," added Jose, harking back to his kick-abouts with Maradona on pitches improvised on scrubland during their youth.


Maradona, who has spent most of the last four years in Cuba in a drug rehabilitation programme, was rushed to hospital while visiting Argentina last month with a swollen heart and lung problems.


It kicked off nearly a month of hospital treatment that ended with him being forced by his family against his wishes to stay in a clinic for drug addiction.


Even now, Argentines always remember Maradona for his football -- for the glory days in 1986 when Argentina won the World Cup. That pride and respect will never be lost.


But an initial outpouring of pity for Argentina's most famous citizen has gradually given way to disapproval of his behaviour over the last month, from discharging himself from hospital intensive care to playing golf on a cold autumn evening a few hours later.


It ended with him returning to hospital in an ambulance. Many Argentines had one reaction: "Serves you right."


EATING PIZZA


Local media offer a daily stream of stories -- Maradona guzzling down pizza and wine after leaving hospital, throwing fits of anger at doctors or having to be sedated to stop him returning to Cuba.


True or not, the reports help to form Argentines' opinions.


"It's madness that he goes to hospital and then he's in a country house full of people having a barbecue," said Jose.


Maradona now packs 100 kilos into his 1.66-metre frame. His family unceremoniously transferred him against his wishes to a private clinic at the weekend in what his doctor said was his last chance to cure himself of drug addiction.


Maradona, speaking slowly and sometimes incoherently to local television in an interview after his first hospital visit, said: "I was dying."


"I hope what he is doing sinks in, he starts paying attention to his doctors and stops to think that he has two daughters," said shop security guard Emilio Aguero, 53. "It is very irresponsible of him. This is of his own doing. He is a disappointment for the country."


Villa Fiorito is no better off than when Maradona was born here. The roads are filthy. A stream of polluted, foamy water divides the neighbourhood.


DRUG ADDICTION


The home-town boy is still respected here despite his jet-set lifestyle and the fact that he now plays the elite sport of golf rather than soccer with its working-class roots.


But 25 years after Maradona left the neighbourhood, Alberto Chavez, dressed in the ragged remains of an old tracksuit, is preaching tough love.


"I was a great friend of his. We've grown up together. I hope the best for him...but he must stop this stupidity," he said.


A poll showed that about half of Argentines believed that Maradona should no longer be treated as an idol but as a simple man with a disease -- drug addiction.


"I don't know how he got hooked. No (hospital) wants to take responsibility for him. He has brought shame on Argentina," said Nina Rojas, a flower vendor who works a few blocks away from the posh hospital that treated Maradona.


"He is known around the world, he's a good footballer and this brings responsibilities," she added.


In Villa Fiorito, Jose wondered; "What would have become of Maradona if he had not been touched with his magic skills?"


He provided his own answer, saying sadly: "Look. Around here everyone is a petty thief."



 

SUMMARY

Due to the fact that he was born in Villa Fiorito, Diego Armando Maradona could have been player of Independiente. Better say, he should have been. But it wasn’t that way. And it’s fine. Because Argentinos Juniors is more related to his own history, to the idea of fighting from the very bottom, of enhancing the humble, and that was proved throughout the years.

As he would do in other teams, in Argentinos he also started trying to save the team and ended up seeking the title. And the old field of Boyacá and García turned out to be the center of attention of the whole football world: as if going on a procession to worship a God, the supporters of every club headed the field to go see play number ten. Forever. Since his debut, the 20th October, 1976, till the first days of 1981, when he left.

Like the supporters of every team, the ones of Argentinos assured that they had the best Maradona. The purest, the intact diamond, not polluted. It’s possible. In any case people talk about the best Maradona and the discussion increases each day.

In Argentinos, there are reference points set by Maradona, including a tunnel, when he wasn’t even 16. His first two goals, immediately, a couple of days after his presentation. The anger shown in his three goals after the frustration of Argentina ’78. Scorer, scorer, scorer, scorer, scorer, five times scorer. In nine championships played using that same t-shirt. Many tours with him, as the main attraction. And a second place, of course, the only time he would celebrate after coming second.

And the reference, inescapable, forever. Argentinos Juniors was, is and will always be the club were Diego Armando Maradona began.

THE SELECTION

If all the people who say they were present in Diego Armando Maradona’s debut in First Division, had really been in Boyacá and García Stadium, stadiums like Maracaná, Santiago Bernabeu and Giusseppe Meazza together wouldn’t have been large enough to welcome them all. Nevertheless, they were many the lucky ones who could be there that Wednesday 20th October, 1976 at Argentinos Juniors’ Stadium to see the local team play against what was considered as the sensation of the National Championship, Talleres de Córdoba. The event collected 1.273.100 pesos of those times. Just as a reference of how much that was, it is worth mentioning that a match between central Norte, from Salta, and Newell’s Old Boys, collected that same day 2.140.000.

Most of those who went to La Paternal were looking forward to enjoying great football of the Cordobeses. The found a 15 year old boy (10 days were left for his 16th birthday) showing Nº 16 on his back, who replaced Nº 10 Giacobetti in the second half. In the first ball he played, he made a tunnel to the first rival who came through, Juan Domingo Patricio Cabrera. And that’s what the coach, Juan Carlos Montes had asked Diego to do: "Go, Diego, play like you know". And what he did, Maradona knew how to do it.

Héctor Vega Onesime, the director of the well known sports magazine, El Gráfico, made a report of the match. He wrote in the summary of what he believed had been an intense match: " Hadn’t it been for the conditions and dimensions of the field, the show could have been better. Both teams were more willing to create than to destroy. Even when Talleres, during the second half squeezed against the posts to keep the result 1-0, Argentinos was condemned by its weak attack capacity. Not even the fact that the surprising, skillful and smart ex-"cebollita" Maradona played (who was not yet 16) was enough to solve the problem. The Cordobeses had no other choice than to win. And they won. We hope that, in a future, their football will emerge. Field: very bad. Judge: Maino (good)". The conclusion was Maradona’s qualification, who only played for 45 minutes: 7 points.

He had played really well. He left fear behind immediately, after he touched the ball for the first time, including a tunnel. But the feelings of that debut, were never erased from his soul. He would confess sometime: "It was the first time I felt I was touching the sky with my hands."

The coach had told him he was going to be reserve during the last weekly training, at Comunicaciones Club, Tuesday 19th. He went mad of happiness and run to let don Diego, doña Tota, her sisters, brothers, and friends, know the big news. All Villa Fiorito knew. In those days, Argentinos had already rented his first house, on 2746 street in Villa del Parque, but they were still moving. So the people who he loved and who truly loved him were there, in Fiorito. It was a strange festival of happiness and crying. It was the best prize for such an effort. No talking of money, yet. He could barely get hold of his only special pair of trousers, deep blue corduroy trousers, useful for winter or summer and get ready to play. And he never stopped playing. The story was only beginning.

ARGENTINOS / NATIONAL TEAM

After his debut in First Division, Diego Armando Maradona never left the main team. What’s more, it was usual to see him playing, not as reserve, wearing the t-shirt with Nº 10 on his back. But he didn’t only train in Argentinos, he also had a place in the Junior National Team. It was during one of those trainings, in the beginning of 1977, that César Luis Menotti talked to him, after a training match between the Junior an Senior Teams.

Diego confessed, much later, that his legs trembled. That listening to "El Flaco" as they called Menotti, was like listening to God. The truth is that what the coach told him sounded like a miracle to him. He was calling him to train with the Senior Team in order to play a friendly match against Hungary. So many things were happening to him in less that four months. Perhaps, they were too many. The truth is that when he wore the light blue and white t-shirt with which he always dreamt to play, he had only played twelve matches in First Division!

Argentinos was his launching stage to establish himself internationally. From the very bottom, Diego became strong. Really strong. In the first tournament after his debut (the Metropolitan Championship in 1977), he played 37 matches in a row, being a regular player. And he strengthened.

Some names of that team sets our memory free. Munutti was the goalkeeper. The defenders, Minutti, Carrizo, Agresta del Cerro, Gette, Núñez, Fusani. Cicogna, Roma, Milani, Romano, Rojas. The mid-field players, Jorge López, Fren, Fusani, Giacobetti, Giordano, Méndez, Di Donato, González. The forwards Carlos Alvarez, Hallar, Ovelar, Ruiz, Bravi, and of course, Maradona.

He made Carlos "Bartolo" Alvarez become a scorer with 20 goals, and he also celebrated 13 times. Against Platense, against Lanús, against Atlanta (2), against All Boys (2), against Huracán (2), against Quilmes, against Chacarita, against Estudiantes and against… Boca (2). It wasn’t bad to start with. Not at all.


 



DIEGO, OUR IDOL !



I vote for the Hand of God. For his great magic in the joy of a goal. Of a fantastic play. Of that unforgettable evening, with the unstoppable left foot in the English field. That indescribable happiness born in the poor fields of Villa Fiorito. The greatest expression of football. Of the ball attached to his foot. Of those nights of hunger, embracing a ruined ball. His only friend.

I vote for that small devil, alchemist of football in the nights of the old stadium at Juan Agustín García and Boyacá in the poor quarter of La Paternal. Home of illusions for Diego Armando Maradona, the poet of the left foot. The meeting place for the people after the nights of tango in Buenos Aires, and for the poor people of Fiorito. Of a brilliancy conquered in the fields of loam, among the fences of "mate cocido", pure innocence. It is the majesty of his prodigious left foot, which draws in every metre of the opponent field, which plays and caresses the ball with the art of this small giant, which inebriates the senses, like the hardest liquor of the night of Buenos Aires in the heart of La Boca. Juggler of endless nights of glory, Maradona, indefatigable warrior.

His left foot invokes the gods, twists in the air looking for the goal, the highest expression of joy, the prize for the hard work. His fist in the air challenges the wind drawing the face of Chitoro and La Tota (his parents) in the top of the pride.

The eyes become red and a tear comes out, when he makes a magic in the eternal stadium of La Paternal. That little boy with black curly hair, who charms, entertains and caresses the ball with a skill without equal. Never seen before. It's football. The one that you live in the stadium of Boca, or in the pigsties of Parque Patricios. Strength, sweat and tears. Which come out for the spectacle of the ball running with class between the feet of this artist who caresses it with love and with the grace of a dancer. A long love story.

I thank my life, as Violeta Parra used to sing, for seeing football, the real football. The show that generates so much passion and makes you tremble like the most fanatic supporter, the show of an unbelievable backheel, of a goal with a bicycle kick with 80,000 people in the stadium. This is the football I love, the football of Diego Armando Maradona, the sportsman of the century. Awarded for his innumerable exploits of sports, for his goal against England, for the third goal against the Soviet Union in the youth world cup of 1979, for that prize that he gained in 1986, in the world cup where he was crowned with all his magic. For his eternal wedding with the ball, the poor one of the loams of Fiorito, cradle of his youth. And the one of the glory in Europe. And of all the places where he showed his magic skill. The "fat", as he called the ball in his childhood dreams, has always been his companion. Friend, confidante, girlfriend and sister, tireless symbol of his fight for the south of Italy. The king of Naples.

On October 30, 1960, in a cold room of the hospital of Lanús, Dalma Maradona Franco, better known as Tota, gave birth to the fantastic 10. On October 20, 1976 the world of football gave birth to him in the Argentine championship, wearing the colours of Argentinos Juniors, his first team. From that day the history of football will suddenly change. Pelé's throne of king will tremble. The ambassador was born. And it is Maradona, the little god of the small Villa Fiorito. The soul of football. I vote for him!


RODRIGO BENAVIDES -- www.reporte.cl



Biography: Diego Maradona




When discussing candidates for the greatest footballer to have ever lived; Three names are always mentioned: Pel, Johann Cruyff, and of course, Diego Maradona.


I am privileged to write an article on one of my personal heroes. As a football fan myself, Diego Maradona has been such an inspiration to me.


Born Diego Armando Maradona in Villa Fiorito, Argentina, October 1960, he lived out much of his early years playing football on the streets of his poor neighbourhood Villa Fiorito, a Rancho (Shanty town) on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Aged 10, he was spotted by a scout and quickly snapped up to play for Argentinos Juniors youth side, where he made a big impression with the fans, often using his half-time break to entertain them with his ball skills.



Maradona turned professional in 1976, signing his first professional contract with Buenos Aires-based side Argentinos Juniors. He was fifteen. He played for Argentinos Juniors for five years, before signing for his boyhood club Boca Juniors whom he had always supported. Boca was, and still is, very much a working-class club in Buenos Aires, with middle-class citizens generally favouring rivals River Plate. Of course, rivalry has been fierce over the years and led to violence between rival fans on many occasions. In 1982, Diego Maradona picked up his first league winners' medal with Boca, and became a firm favourite with the fans.


However, Maradona knew he was destined for bigger and better things, and as word spread to Europe of this talented youngster, Big European clubs quickly became interested. And shortly after the 1982 World Cup in Spain, in which Argentina, the defending champions, were eliminated by Italy's azurri who went on to win the trophy, Maradona remained in Spain and signed for Barcelona, setting a new world record transfer fee of 5 Million.


Maradona's career had not gone without it's fair share of setbacks and controversy. However, his indomitable will-power managed to overcome many obstacles in his way, including a bout of hepatitis, and a severe injury sustained in a match against Athletico Bilbao in 1983 which almost threatened his career. However, Maradona came back even stronger, until he came up against an obstacle which was to become his nemesis: Cocaine.


 


Relations between him and his superiors at Barca turned sour, and Maradona eventually demanded a transfer. He moved to Italy where he became an instant success with Napoli, where he brought along with him an unprecedented

http://www.helium.com/items/341433-biography-diego-maradona



Hand of God goal



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Jump to: navigation, search




Maradona left, Shilton right

The Hand of God goal (Spanish: La Mano de Dios) was scored as the result of an illegal (but unpenalised) handball by Diego Maradona in the quarter-final match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup between England and Argentina, played on 22 June 1986 in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. Argentina won 2–1.







Contents

[hide]



[edit] Context





The long-term rivalry between the two footballing nations can be traced back to the controversial sending off of Argentine captain Antonio Ubaldo Rattin in the England-Argentina match of the 1966 World Cup; Argentina were knocked out of the tournament, while England went on to win the championship. In 1986, when England and Argentina met in the quarter-finals, tensions were running particularly high between the countries, due partly to the Falklands War, which had taken place just four years earlier. This Argentine win, like that of the English 20 years earlier, was en route to winning a World Cup championship.



[edit] Goal





Diagram of the movement that led to the goal.

Six minutes into the second half, the score was 0–0. Maradona cut inside from the right flank and played a diagonal low pass to the edge of the area to teammate Jorge Valdano and continued his run in the hope of a one-two movement. Maradona's pass, however, was played slightly behind Valdano and reached England's Steve Hodge, the left-midfielder who had dropped back to defend.


Hodge (who swapped shirts with Maradona after the game) tried to hook the ball clear but miscued it. The ball screwed off his foot and into the penalty area, toward Maradona, who had continued his run. England goalkeeper Peter Shilton duly came out of his goal to punch the ball clear, with his considerable height (6'1" or 185cm) making him clear favourite to beat Maradona (5'5" or 165cm) to it. However, Maradona reached it first—with the outside of his left fist. The ball went into the goal, and the referee (Tunisian Ali Bin Nasser), not having seen the infringement, allowed the goal.


Many people did not initially realize it was a handball. Some television commentators thought the objections of the English defenders were claims for offside, and it was only clear from other camera angles—not the original one—that there had been an offence.


The Argentine players and fans celebrated (video shows Maradona looking toward the referee; he later said "I was waiting for my teammates to embrace me, and no one came . . . I told them, 'Come hug me, or the referee isn't going to allow it.'" [1]) while the English players protested to no avail.


Incidents of players seeking to gain an advantage by skirting the laws of the game, in the hope that the referee does not see, are common. This incident has derived its notoriety largely from the importance and closeness of the match, the animosity between the nations, and the responses of Maradona and the English media.



[edit] Rest of the match


Five minutes later, Maradona scored another goal, voted in 2002 as the Goal of the Century, in which he eluded five English outfield players (Hoddle, Reid, Sansom, Butcher (twice) and Fenwick), as well as Shilton. England scored through Gary Lineker in the 81st minute, but Argentina won the match 2–1.



[edit] Initial denial and reaction


At the post-game press conference, Maradona exacerbated the controversy further by claiming the goal was scored "un poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios" (a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God), coining one of the most famous quotes in sport. Video and photographic evidence demonstrated that he had struck the ball with his hand, which was shown on television networks and in newspapers all over the world.


Very little criticism or complaint was made against referee Ali Bin Nasser or the Bulgarian linesman, Bogdan Dochev[citation needed].


For the next few days, the English press referred to the incident as "The Hand of the Devil." Maradona remained unpopular with the English press for many years. When he was later banned from football for cocaine use, the tabloid newspaper The Sun stated in a headline "Dirty Diego Gone For Good!"[citation needed]


In response to this incident and the reaction, Bobby Robson launched the "Fair Play Programme" in 1993.[2]



[edit] Subsequent admission


In his autobiography, Maradona admitted that the ball came off his hand:



Now I feel I am able to say what I couldn't then. At the time I called it "the hand of God." What hand of God? It was the hand of Diego! And it felt a little bit like pickpocketing the English. (Yo soy el Diego, by Diego Armando Maradona. 2000, Editorial Planeta, p132 ISBN 84-08-03674-2).

In 2005, on his television talk show, Maradona attempted to justify the goal as a response to the UK's victory in the Falklands War, quoting the popular Spanish saying: "Whoever robs a thief gets a 100-year pardon." [3] During a televised interview with Maradona in 2006, Lineker said, in reference to the goal, "Personally, I blame the referee and the linesman, not you." [4]


In a January 2008 interview for The Sun, Maradona spoke of the politeness of the English, saying "If I could apologise and go back and change history I would,"[5] but a few days later, in Argentina, he denied that this amounted to an apology for the goal.[6]



[edit] In popular culture










No comments: