On June 22, 35 years ago Diego Armando Maradona he scored the best goal in football history and, in the same match, the most liar goal. It was the quarter-finals of the 1986 Mexico World Cup and the Argentina of the Pibe de Oro faced England with a desire for revenge that also came from the defeat of the Falklands war. Maradona signed with his hand and said it was the hand of God.
This is one of the stories told by Furio Zara in The Knights of the Round Fable, Incredible stories of champions, kicks and balls, Baldini + Castoldi, Milan 2021, 20 euros, 94 pages.
Drawings by Matteo Civaschi and H-57 Creative Station.
I told a lie, so what? I said it was the “God’s hand»To score that goal. The Beard, as I called him, had given me a hand, in the true sense of the word. That balloon was too high to head off, and I was too small to get there. So I raised my left hand, as I did as a child when I played with older kids.
I was smart, because I kept my hand close to my head, so that no one could notice what I was doing. The English goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, he jumped quietly, with his arms outstretched towards the ball. Who knows what he thought when he saw it slip from under his nose. A curse? A gust of wind? He didn’t even have time to realize it, that the ball was already rolling into the net. 1-0 for us, and many greetings. An English defender had realized my trick, ran to the referee and was protesting. I went happily towards the flag, without turning around.
I confess that I was afraid that none of the comrades – out of shame – was following me. How would I have behaved? I do not know. I only know that they all followed me, came to hug me and someone from the stands even threw an Argentine flag onto the field.
We won that game, sure. I said it was a divine revenge, there was a war going on between us Argentines and the British and in that way – as I saw it – “The BeardHe had decided which side to take. I’m not so convinced anymore. And anyway we didn’t win that game thanks to the “Mano de Dios”, don’t believe whoever tells you this nonsense. We won it because shortly after I scored the most extraordinary goal in the history of football. This is the sacred truth, everyone knows, even the “Beard” knows. But that’s another story.
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