In the 1986 Mexico World Cup quarter final England and Argentina played each other. Just 4 years earlier, Britain and Argentina were at war with each other. Little did people know that England would be the victims of the craziest goal ever awarded in World Cup history. On 22nd June 1986, in Mexico City, Argentina's Diego Maradona hit the ball with his hand and it went into the net. Amazingly, the referee allowed the goal. For those who don't know the rules of "soccer", only the goalkeeper is allowed to touch the ball with his hands and even then only in the penalty area. So Maradona's goal shpuldn't have been allowed. Not only did Argentina win the game 2-1 (which they shouldn't have done) they then went on to win the World Cup. At the end of the game, Maradona himself admitted that it was handball, and he called it "The Hand of God." The Argies saw this goal scored by the hand as "revenge" for their defeat by the British in the 1982 Falklands War and for what they still see as an unfair match in the 1966 World Cup, the tournament that England won
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Linesman saw 'Hand of God'
You've got to HAND it to him .... Maradona lifts World Cup after Argentina cheated their way to victory.
By ALLAN HALL
and LUCY HAGAN
January 16, 2007
THE linesman when Maradona scored his infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986 has claimed it should NEVER have been allowed.
Bulgarian Bogdan Dotchev also launched an attack on the Tunisian referee, branding him “an idiot more fit to herd camels in the desert than take charge of a World Cup game”.
Dotchev broke his 20-year silence after ref Ali Bin Nasser last week blamed him for not signalling the handball.
But Dotchev insisted: “A European referee would never recognise the validity of such a goal.
Foul ... Maradona's infamous 1986 "Hand of God" goal against England. If the scores went the correct way, it may have been England who progressed to the semi-finals and won the eventually won the World Cup.
“European refs take charge of at least one or two important games per month and are used to big-match pressure.
“What is there for Bin Nasser to referee in the desert where there is nothing but camels?”
Argentina’s midfielder Diego Maradona palmed the ball into the goal over England keeper Peter Shilton in Mexico City.
Dotchev, a top Bulgarian official back then, says he knew Maradona had used his hand.
But he claims: “With the ref having said the goal was valid, I couldn’t have waved my flag and told him the goal wasn’t good — the rules were different back then.”
Argentina went on to a 2-1 victory to reach the semi-final — eventually winning the tournament.
But last night British refs chief Keith Hackett, in charge of nearly 100 internationals between 1981-91, said: “There were NO rules at the time which said this linesman could not alert the referee to a handball.
“This incident was one of incompetence on the part of the officials.”
dailymail.co.uk
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Linesman saw 'Hand of God'
You've got to HAND it to him .... Maradona lifts World Cup after Argentina cheated their way to victory.
and LUCY HAGAN
January 16, 2007
THE linesman when Maradona scored his infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986 has claimed it should NEVER have been allowed.
Bulgarian Bogdan Dotchev also launched an attack on the Tunisian referee, branding him “an idiot more fit to herd camels in the desert than take charge of a World Cup game”.
Dotchev broke his 20-year silence after ref Ali Bin Nasser last week blamed him for not signalling the handball.
But Dotchev insisted: “A European referee would never recognise the validity of such a goal.
Foul ... Maradona's infamous 1986 "Hand of God" goal against England. If the scores went the correct way, it may have been England who progressed to the semi-finals and won the eventually won the World Cup.
“European refs take charge of at least one or two important games per month and are used to big-match pressure.
“What is there for Bin Nasser to referee in the desert where there is nothing but camels?”
Argentina’s midfielder Diego Maradona palmed the ball into the goal over England keeper Peter Shilton in Mexico City.
Dotchev, a top Bulgarian official back then, says he knew Maradona had used his hand.
But he claims: “With the ref having said the goal was valid, I couldn’t have waved my flag and told him the goal wasn’t good — the rules were different back then.”
Argentina went on to a 2-1 victory to reach the semi-final — eventually winning the tournament.
But last night British refs chief Keith Hackett, in charge of nearly 100 internationals between 1981-91, said: “There were NO rules at the time which said this linesman could not alert the referee to a handball.
“This incident was one of incompetence on the part of the officials.”
dailymail.co.uk
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