Hand Of God

There have been many instances of foul plays in sports and although some players have been penalized for offences, there have also been cases where they have got away with it. These instances are always fraught with controversies and perhaps one of the most controversial of them has been the Hand of God goal by Diego Maradona of the Argentinean football team in the quarter final of the 1986 World Cup, against England. Argentina not only won the quarter final match 2-1 but also went on to the win the World Cup that year. There have been innumerable speculations whether it would have happened if that Hand of God goal had not been played.

The incident gets it name from the post match press conference interview where Maradona had said, that the goal had happened "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God". Critics were sure that the goal had been scored squarely with his hands. The English keeper, Peter Shelton, at 6'1", was way much taller than "The Golden Boy", who was 5'5". Maradona entered the penalty area with the intention of scoring a goal with a head butt. On finding Peter Shelton face to face, who was clearly going to deflect the ball, Maradona used his left fist to knock the ball beyond him and into the net.

Many claim that it was due to the sheer inexperience of the referee Ali Bin Naseer and lack of technology in those days that the goal stood, and to some extent because it was Maradona himself. The referee or his linesmen had failed to see this anomaly. English fans throughout the stadium roared in protest but the goal was not rejected. A second goal was scored as well, this time Maradona displaying his skills as he dodged five of the opponents to score the second goal. However, England too had scored a goal and this match would have ended in a draw had it not been for the "Hand of God".

English fans had been waiting for a public apology from Maradona which came after 22 years. Maradona has himself confessed later that the goal should not have stood, but due to sheer luck, the referee had failed to see or understand the nature of the goal, resulting in perhaps one of the biggest controversies in the history of soccer.  He said he wished he could go back in time and change it.