NEW YORK, United States — The jersey worn by
Diego Maradona when he scored
twice against England in the 1986 World Cup, including the infamous “hand of
God” goal, is to be auctioned off later this month, Sotheby’s announced
Wednesday.
اضافة اعلان
The blue number 10
shirt has been owned since the end of the controversial World Cup encounter by
opposing midfielder Steve Hodge, who swapped his jersey with Maradona after
England lost 2–1.
The quarter final
showdown, one of the most memorable in World Cup history, held particular
significance for Argentina as it was played only four years after they lost the
Falklands war.
The match became
etched in football folklore for Maradona’s two goals — one notorious and one
sublime — in
Mexico City’s seething Aztec Stadium.
The first came
shortly after half-time when Hodge, on the edge of the England penalty area,
intercepted a pass and flicked the ball back towards goal.
Maradona, running
into the box, rose with England’s goalkeeper Peter Shilton and punched the ball
into the net.
England were
incensed and complained to officials who, believing Maradona had headed the
ball, allowed the goal to stand.
Maradona then
stirred the controversy afterward by saying the goal had been scored “a little
with the head of Maradona, a little with the hand of God.”
Four minutes
later, Maradona struck again and this time there was no doubt.
Receiving the ball
and turning inside his own half, Maradona left five English defenders in his
wake before gliding past Shilton and slotting home for a strike that was voted
“Goal of the Century” in a 2002 FIFA poll.
National hero
Argentina won the final to lift the World Cup for the second time in
eight years and Maradona, already a superstar, became worshipped in his home
country.
After his death
from a heart attack in 2020,
Argentina held three days of national mourning.
Hodge, whose
autobiography is titled “The man with Maradona’s shirt,” has for the past 20
years loaned the jersey to be on public display at the National Football Museum
in Manchester.
Sotheby’s said in
a statement to AFP that it will hold its own public display for the jersey in
London, during the online auction scheduled for April 20 to May 4.
The decision of
whether to keep it accessible to the public will be up to the winning bidder.
Brahm Wachter,
Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectibles, said “the list is long
for the type of people or organizations that might want to own the item.”
“It could be an
individual, it could be a museum, it could be just somebody who wants to own
the best of the best, a football lover or a club.”
Bidding for the
Maradona memorabilia will start at £4 million ($5.2 million), below the $5.6
million record for game-worn shirts, set in 2019 for a jersey Babe Ruth wore
while on the New York Yankees.
Last year, a jersey worn
in the 1950s by Brooklyn Dodgers star Jackie Robinson — the first Black player
in Major League Baseball — sold for $4.2 million.
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