Contrary to the dismal
spell of the 1982 this is the year when Maradona would make his mark. The
place was the Aztec stadium in Mexico and in the very first match mardona
would score a spectacular goal thus ensuring that he was the player to
watch. The first round was a relatively easy phase to the Argentine squad
reinforced with the skillful Maradona at his prime. The team easily progressed
to the knockout phase.
The most talked about
match against England was one that was to be overshadowed by the Falkland's
war. The rivalary was unparralled and there was a great pressure not to
politicize the match but obviously to no avail. It is in this match that
Maradona would cheat to score the infamous goal which was forever to be
known as the Hand of God or 'la mano de Dios'. To Argentina's advantage
neither the referee nor the assistant could see what appeared to be obvious
given Maradona's height.
However shortly after
the infamous first Maradona would go on to score the greatest world cup
goal EVER as also recently voted by a survey conducted by a British TV.
In this he runs from the half pitch line beating five players and Peter
Shilton to score a spectacular goal. This is one that would ensure his
place next to no one but the greatest Pele. To live the moment follow the
link below for a movie clip.
When asked as to how
he felt about the first goal by a British TV channel he would say "All
I could offer to the English is a thousand apologies but I will never be
sorry". Indeed for a country that was so humiliated by the Falkland's
war and also the 'disappeared' he was the only person that the people saw
as lifting their spirit. To them, as he put it he is the 'el diego'
and the one that avenged for the war.
In the finals Argentine
would face the mighty Germans. In this match Argentina would lead the score
but only for the persistant Germans to take the game to a 2:2 scenario.
In the last few minutes of the match Argentina would get a break to score
a third goal and deservedly lift the World Cup. This was truely Maradona's
world cup and in the eyes of many he singlehandedly won it. However in
fairness the entire squad deserves a credit.
The link for the greatest
goal: Argentina
V England
