{"id":31868,"date":"2022-11-13T01:28:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-13T01:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=31868"},"modified":"2022-11-17T15:48:12","modified_gmt":"2022-11-17T15:48:12","slug":"why-maradonas-hand-of-god-goal-is-priceless-and-unforgettable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/why-maradonas-hand-of-god-goal-is-priceless-and-unforgettable\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Maradona\u2019s \u2018Hand of God\u2019 goal is priceless \u2013 and unforgettable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stefan Szymanski<\/a>, University of Michigan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Football has \u201cThe Catch<\/a>,\u201d baseball has \u201cThe Shot Heard \u2018Round the World<\/a>,\u201d and basketball has \u201cThe Block<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For soccer, it is Diego Maradona\u2019s \u201cHand of God<\/a>\u201d \u2013 a sporting moment captured in time, the mere mention of which can conjure up strong emotions among supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such is its legacy, that some 36 years after bouncing into the back of the net, the soccer ball involved is set to be sold at auction on Nov. 16, 2022<\/a>, at an expected price of up to US$3.3 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why does this goal, which should not even have been a goal, carry so much significance? As an economist who studies sport<\/a>, I\u2019ve long believed that you have to grasp the cultural significance to understand the financial dimension of sports. This goal was one of soccer\u2019s most iconic events for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. It\u2019s about the controversy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The goal in question was scored by Argentinian great Maradona against England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup. It was the second half, no goals had been scored, and Argentina\u2019s team was passing the ball around the edge of the England penalty box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England midfielder Steve Hodge tried to clear the ball but only succeeded in kicking high above the goalkeeper. Normally one would expect the goalkeeper to catch it, especially against the 5-foot-5-inch Maradona. But somehow the ball ended up in the back of the net. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-ccNkksrfls?wmode=transparent&start=0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, it seemed that Maradona had headed the ball, but replays clearly showed him steering the ball with his clenched fist. This was three decades before the use of video assistant referee<\/a>, or VAR, in soccer. There was no way to review. The referee\u2019s vision was blocked, and he looked to the linesman for guidance \u2013 but the linesman saw nothing wrong, and the goal was allowed to stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking after the game, Maradona told reporters that the goal was scored \u201cun poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios,\u201d or in the English translation, \u201ca little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.\u201d The phrase stuck, and with it the legend of the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. It\u2019s really about that second goal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Argentina team of 1986 was not a great team. Rather, it was an average team combined with the greatest player in the world at the time, and many would say the most talented footballer ever to grace a pitch<\/a>. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1wVho3I0NtU?wmode=transparent&start=0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England were probably a better team if you took Maradona out of the game. So that is what England\u2019s defenders tried to do<\/a>: shut him out by fair means or foul. England\u2019s plan was to make it the responsibility of almost every player on the field to track him and try to stop him from advancing. They tried, but it was impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four minutes after the first goal, Maradona took the ball and at lightning pace skipped past three defenders and the England goalkeeper to score again. The goal was voted \u201cthe goal of the [20th] century<\/a>\u201d in a 2002 FIFA poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Argentina would go on to win the final in what is still known as \u201cMaradona\u2019s World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. No, it\u2019s all about Argentina\u2019s revenge!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There was no escaping the political context<\/a> of the game \u2013 or the goal. In 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands<\/a>, or Las Malvinas \u2013 the name you use determines your allegiance \u2013 a British overseas territory some 300 miles off the Argentinian coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The islands had been occupied by the British since 1833, and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher cemented her image as \u201cThe Iron Lady\u201d by sending a military task force 8,000 miles<\/a> across the Atlantic to recapture the islands. The U.K. claimed its primary motivation was respecting the self-determination of the islanders, but valuable fishing rights<\/a> and a seat at the table in the administration of the Antarctic were also at stake. Among the neutrals, there was considerable sympathy for the Argentine cause<\/a> in what seemed like an anachronistic act of colonial imperialism by the British.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The humiliation for Argentinian generals likely hastened the end of the military dictatorship<\/a> and the restoration of democracy in Argentina. But it bred resentment against the English \u2013 Argentinians believe in their heart that Las Malvinas belong to them, not to Britain \u2013 and that colored the build-up to the 1986 game, as Maradona later recalled<\/a> in his memoir \u201cYo Soy El Diego,\u201d or \u201cI Am The Diego:\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomehow we blamed the English players for everything that had happened, for everything that the Argentinian people had suffered \u2026 we were defending our flag, the dead kids, the survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A mural in Buenos Aires celebrating Diego Maradona\u2019s second goal in the 1986 World Cup. Juan Mabromata\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. OK, it\u2019s because Diego Maradona really is the GOAT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Few players have stamped their presence on a World Cup quite like Maradona. His performance in the England game stands as a memorial to his greatness, and the phrase \u201cHand of God\u201d neatly puts his name in the same sentence as divinity. It wasn\u2019t a one-off \u2013 the entire tournament became a showground for his outrageous skill \u2013 and he fittingly raised the trophy at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Maradona \u2013 who died in 2020 at age 60 \u2013 was also a troubled genius. A child of the slums of Buenos Aires<\/a>, he never lost the anxiety that he would not receive his due. He became addicted to drugs \u2013 potentially as a result of all the painkillers he needed to keep playing in an era in which defenders were prone to bone-crunching tackles \u2013 and struggled with cocaine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was frequently abusive toward the media<\/a>, was accused of assaulting one girlfriend<\/a>, and he was alleged to have close connections to the mafia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for most soccer enthusiasts, none of this really detracts from his greatness as a player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are simply some players \u2013 a very small number indeed \u2013 whose story transcends right and wrong and whose acts are forever remembered like the heroes of ancient Greek epics. Maradona is one such player. Like Achilles or Odysseus, his name will live on, remembered in the \u201cHand of God\u201d goal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stefan Szymanski<\/a>, Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stefan Szymanski, University of Michigan Football has \u201cThe Catch,\u201d baseball has \u201cThe Shot Heard \u2018Round the World,\u201d and basketball has \u201cThe Block.\u201d For soccer, it is Diego Maradona\u2019s \u201cHand of God\u201d \u2013 a sporting moment captured in time, the mere mention of which can conjure up strong emotions among supporters. Such is its legacy, that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":31869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2450],"tags":[3537,204,11099,12905,12734,763,3329,155,203],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31868"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31919,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31868\/revisions\/31919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}