The hand of God

For other uses, see Hand of God (disambiguation).

"The hand of God" (Spanish: La mano de Dios) was a handling goal scored by Argentine footballer Diego Maradona during the Argentina v England quarter finals match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup. The goal was illegal under association football rules because Maradona used his hand to score, but because the referees did not have a clear view of the play and video assistant referee technology did not exist at the time, it stood to give Argentina a 1–0 lead. Argentina went on to win 2–1, with Maradona scoring a second goal known as the "Goal of the Century," en route to claiming the World Cup.

The goal's name derives from Maradona's initial response on whether he scored it illegally, stating it was made "a little with the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God". Maradona later said he considered the goal to be "symbolic revenge" for the United Kingdom's victory over Argentina in the Falklands War four years earlier.

The goal

 

The moment when Diego Maradona flicks the ball with the hand past the outstretched arm of Peter Shilton

Six minutes into the second half of the game, Maradona took the ball out of the box with his left leg and passed it to teammate Jorge Valdano. Valdano tried to take on several English defenders, but the ball was intercepted and thrown back and forth and kicked towards England's goal by English midfielder Steve Hodge.

Because of the position of the players, Maradona would have been caught offside, but as the ball came off an opponent, there was no offside offence. Alone inside the penalty box and with the ball dropping down, Maradona contested the ball with goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who stood 20 centimetres (8 inches) taller than Maradona. Shilton jumped forward with his right hand, while Maradona did so with his left arm outstretched. Maradona's fist, which was raised close to his head, touched the ball first and hit the ball into England's goal. Maradona began to celebrate while glancing sideways at the referee and the linesman for confirmation. He then fully celebrated the goal when it was given.

Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur gave the goal, but after the English players' protests he sought the advice of his second linesman who confirmed the goal.

Mexican photographer Alejandro Ojeda Carbajal immortalized this moment in a photograph in which Maradona can be seen hitting the ball with his hand.

Now I can say what I couldn't at that moment, what I defined at that time as The Hand of God. What hand of God? It was the hand of Diego!
("Ahora sí puedo contar lo que en aquel momento no podía, lo que en aquel momento definí como «La mano de Dios»... ¿Qué mano de Dios? ¡fue la mano del Diego!")

— Diego Maradona, in his autobiography^[1]

"History is already written"

In 2005, 19 years after scoring the controversial goal, Maradona confessed on a program La Noche del 10, that the goal was actually scored with his hand.

Several world media outlets reported the news, creating controversy.^[2] Even Peter Shilton rejected the apology, arguing that it was now too late.^[3] Maradona, a few days after the article came out, denied everything, saying that the newspaper^{[clarification needed]} had misquoted him. Maradona responded:

 

Illustrated sequence of the move of the "Hand of God" goal

"I never spoke of forgiveness. I said only that the story could not be changed, that I do not have to apologize to anyone, because it was a football game in which there were 100,000 people in the Azteca stadium, twenty-two players, that there were two linesmen, that there was one referee, that Shilton (the goalkeeper) speaks up now and he hadn't noticed, the defenders had to tell him. So the story is already written, nothing can change it. And that was what I said. I never apologized to anyone. Besides, I don't have to apologize by making a statement to England. For what? To please whom? What pisses me off the most is that they repeat this in Argentina and talk to people who know me. They talk about contradictions. At forty-seven I think that apologizing to the English is stupid."^{[4][failed verification]}

(«Yo en ningún momento hablé de perdón. Hablé solamente de que la historia no se podía cambiar, de que yo no tengo por qué pedirle disculpas a nadie, porque fue un partido de fútbol en el que había cien mil personas en el Azteca, veintidós jugadores, que había dos líneas, que había un árbitro, que Shilton «el arquerazo ese» sale a hablar ahora y él no se había dado cuenta, se lo tuvieron que decir los defensores. Así que la historia ya está escrita, ya no la puede cambiar nada ni nadie. Y eso fue lo que dije. Yo nunca le pedí perdón absolutamente a nadie. Aparte no tengo que pedir perdón yendo a hacer una nota a Inglaterra. ¿Para qué? ¿Para ganarme a quién? Lo que más me jode es que se hacen eco en Argentina y hacen hablar a... gente que me conoce. Hablan de contradicciones. A los cuarenta y siete años me parece que pedirles disculpas a los ingleses es una estupidez.»)^{[4][failed verification]}

A few days later, The Sun newspaper confirmed that it had modified the interpretation of Maradona's words and asked to change the name to The Devil's Hand. In the original text of the interview, it could be seen that Maradona had never asked for forgiveness for the goal.

Falklands War and "symbolic revenge"

In the 2019 documentary film Diego Maradona directed by Asif Kapadia, Maradona links the event to the Falklands War four years earlier, saying "[w]e, as Argentinians, didn't know what the military was up to. They told us that we were winning the war. But in reality, England was winning 20–0. It was tough. The hype made it seem like we were going to play out another war. I knew it was my hand. It wasn't my plan but the action happened so fast that the linesman didn't see me putting my hand in. The referee looked at me and he said: 'Goal.' It was a nice feeling like some sort of symbolic revenge against the English."^[5]

Ivan Lopez-Muniz wrote in 2017 that in Argentina the "entire nation", including the Government and the Argentine Football Association, still "praises the most blatant act of cheating ever caught on tape", partly because "Argentines are humans, and humans are hypocrites" but also because of a long history of grievances against the United Kingdom, that includes not only the 1982 Falklands War, but other matters such as England manager Alf Ramsay calling the Argentine players animals after Argentine Captain Antonio Rattín was sent off against England in the 1966 World Cup, as well as Britain's invasions of the future Argentine capital Buenos Aires in 1806 and 1807, and its seizure of the Falkland Islands (known to Argentines as Las Malvinas) "in 1832".^[6][a] Lopez-Muniz concluded that, because of the combination of high and low standards, "Quite simply, it means that Maradona, on that day, was an Englishman."^[6]

Subsequent use

The "Hand of God" became a popular phrase and is still referred to around the world. Some other famous football handballs are:

• In the first round of the 1990 World Cup between Argentina and the Soviet Union, in the first half of the 2–0 win, a Soviet attack failed as Maradona intercepted the shot with "the hand of God" without the referee noticing.^[7]
• In the 2004 AFC Asian Cup Final between China and Japan, Koji Nakata scored Japan's second goal by hand, which would later be stood, much to the dismay of Chinese fans as the Chinese hosts lost 3–1 to the eventual champions.^[8]
• During a league match against Espanyol on 9 June 2007, Argentinian Barcelona player Lionel Messi scored by launching himself at the ball and guiding it past the goalkeeper with his hand in similar fashion to Maradona's Hand of God goal.^[9]
• During the final minutes of the second leg of the play-off for the 2010 World Cup between Ireland and France, William Gallas scored the decisive goal from a Thierry Henry assist that gave France a 2–1 aggregate victory and qualified them for the World Cup. Controversy followed immediately as replays showed Henry repeatedly centering the ball with his hands moments prior to passing the ball to Gallas. Despite protests from the Irish side, Swedish referee Martin Hansson did not admonish Henry and allowed the goal. After the match ended, sports media from around the world gave Henry's cross several nicknames, ranging from "The New Hand of God",^[10] to the more scathing "The Hand of Frog", the latter using an insulting term towards French people.^[11]
• Uruguayan footballer Luis Suárez illegally stopped with his hand a likely goal from Ghanaian Dominic Adiyiah in the quarter-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Suárez was shown the red card; nonetheless, Uruguay survived and overcame Ghana on penalties. At the subsequent press conference, the striker said he had done so with the "Hand of God",^[12] and it later became popularly known as "Hand of God 2.0".^[13]
• On 11 February 2020, in Group G of the 2020 AFC Cup, Joshua Grommen of Ceres-Negros F.C. scored the second goal of their game against Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC by diverting the ball into the net with his hand. Despite vocal protests from the opposing side, the goal was given as officials had failed to notice the blatant handball.^[14]

The legacy of “Hand of God” has extended beyond the realm of football. Paolo Sorrentino’s semi-autobiographical 2021 drama is named after the incident and references Diego Maradona’s influence on 1980s Naples.

Maradona’s shirt

After the game Maradona swapped his shirt in the tunnel with Steve Hodge. After many years of requests to sell the shirt and a period of 20 years where it was on loan at the National Football Museum, in 2022 Hodge placed it up for auction with auctioneers Sotheby's.^[15] On 4 May 2022, the shirt sold at auction for £7,100,000, a world record for a piece of sports memorabilia.^[16]

See also

• Maradona, the Hand of God
• The Hand of God (film)

Explanatory footnotes

1. British naval vessels arrived in the Falkland Islands in December 1832, but the operation was not completed until 1833.

References

1. Yo soy el Diego, autobiography of Diego Armando Maradona, p. 32 – Editorial Planeta, 2000 – ISBN 84-08-03674-2.
2. [es:El Mercurio],
3. [es: La Tercera],
4. “Maradona dijo que no se disculpó a los ingleses”. Clarín. Retrieved 10 January 2020
5. Dawnay, Oliver (6 June 2019). "Argentina legend Diego Maradona says 'Hand of God' goal against England was 'symbolic revenge' for the Falklands War". Talksport. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
6. Ivan Lopez-Muniz (5 April 2017). "Diego Maradona's Hand of God proved that cheating isn't always immoral". Howler Magazine. ESPN. Retrieved 9 July 2021. But people in Argentina continue to celebrate the Hand of God. The Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) includes the play in its promo reels. The Argentine government airs it on public TV. An entire nation praises the most blatant act of cheating ever caught on tape. ... Because Argentines are humans, and humans are hypocrites. But there is also all that history, the stuff I mentioned before, as well as our failed attempt to reclaim Las Malvinas in 1982. ... Quite simply, it means that Maradona, on that day, was an Englishman. (Link to Howler Magazine)
7. "13 June 1990: Diego Maradona's other World Cup handball". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 February 2015
8. "China down but not out after Cup loss to Japan". The Star. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
9. Mitten, Andy (10 June 2007). "Hand of Messi Saves Barcelona". The Times (subscription required). from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
10. "La mano de Henry lleva a Francia al Mundial". elmundo.es deportes.
11. "Ireland outraged after French handball nixes World Cup hopes". CNN. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
12. "World Cup 2010: The Hand of God belongs to me, says Luis Suárez". The Guardian. 3 July 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
13. Furniss, Matt (2 December 2022). "About That Game: Uruguay 1-1 Ghana (2010)". The Analyst. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
14. "Hand of God: Maradona-style handball goal goes unnoticed in AFC Cup – video". The Guardian. 12 February 2020.
15. "Maradona's 'Hand of God' shirt for sale at auction". BBC Sport.
16. "Maradona's 'Hand of God' shirt sells for £7.1m". BBC Sport.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The hand of God.

• The Hand of God (BBC) on YouTube
• Top 10 Famous Soccer Handballs