Who else but Diego could score two iconic goals, for very different reasons, in just four minutes.
It was a long time ago (Lionel Messi wasn’t even born) but 28 years ago today saw possibly the greatest player who ever lived perform two of his most famous moments on the field. One was so outrageous a piece of deception that it is still hard to believe he got away with it. The other, even more outrageous and even more incredible to pull off.
Both the Hand of God and the Goal of the Century were conjured up by a 26-year-old Diego Maradona on June 22 1986, on the famous turf of the Azteca Stadium.
The game is one of the most famous in World Cup history and that is all down to the little genius at the heart of the game-changing moments.
First up was the Hand of God in the 51st minute, easily the most famous handball in football (sorry Thierry, you did your best but). It is still hard to fathom how he outjumps Peter Shilton and how referee Ali Bin Nasser doesn’t spot it.
But just three minutes later, Maradona showed that the cheek it took to punch a ball into the goal also gave him the pluck to decide to race through the entire English team to score one of the greatest goals ever seen on any stage, let alone a World Cup quarter-final.
Here’s the normal angle, with very wild Argentinian commentary
And here is the even cooler, behind-the-goal angle
The game’s fame lives on, just like the man himself. Will Gary Lineker, who played for England and scored their goal that day mention it before the BBC’s coverage of Belgium and Russia at 4.30? We bet he does.
