Technology prompts Maradona confession
“That goal wouldn’t have stood if technology had been around”
Another to perform a U-turn, though in this case with no traces of criminal as opposed to anti-sporting conduct, is Diego Maradona.
Scorer of a notorious goal against England in the Azteca Stadium in a World Cup tie in 1986, Maradona, playing for Argentina with renown, beat goalkeeper Peter Shilton to a high ball with his elevated fist. An inexperienced African referee allowed that goal to stand and Maradona followed it with another, this time a superb sustained dribble past defender after defender.
Shamelessly, he attributed his first goal to the “Hand of God”.
After the match, a wise Italian journalist said to me he thought that England’s defence was in a state of shock after the first outrageous goal, “like a man who has just had his wallet stolen”.
Maradona, now 56, has just said, finally confessing: “That goal wouldn’t have stood if technology had been around. I’ll tell you something else, at the 1990 World Cup I used my hand to clear the ball off the line. We were lucky, because the referee didn’t see it. It’s not just my goal that wouldn’t have counted.
“Let’s not forget that England won the World Cup in 1966 with a shot that didn’t go over the line. Then, in 2010, Frank Lampard’s shot crossed the line against Germany but it wasn’t given.”
I have long wondered what might have happened had it been awarded. Would Germany have subsequently dominated as they did?