Buenos Aires (AFP)
One of the daughters of the late Argentine star Diego Maradona raised doubts regarding the shirt that Sotheby’s will auction on April 20, noting that it is not the shirt in which he scored his two famous goals once morest England, but rather the one he wore during the first half of that match.
Dalma Maradona revealed to Argentine newspapers, “It is not the shirt, and I cannot reveal who is in possession of who is currently, but what is happening is crazy, it is not the shirt that this person owns” Steve Hodge, the England player in that match.
She added that her father, Diego, told her, “How can I give him the shirt of my life?” Referring to the shirt in which he scored Argentina’s two goals during their 2-1 victory over England in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Mexico City, on his way to winning the title, noting that the second goal was chosen as the goal of the century following a referendum conducted by the International Federation of the game.
A Sotheby’s spokesman, in a statement to Agence France-Presse, responded to Maradona’s daughter’s allegations, saying, “In fact, there is another shirt that Maradona wore in the second half, but there are clear differences between the shirt in the first half and the shirt he wore when he scored the two goals, and therefore before To put the shirt in the auction, we did scientific studies to make sure that this is the shirt that Maradona wore in the second half when he scored the two goals.”
Steve Hodge had claimed for 35 years that he exchanged shirts with Maradona at the end of the match, and put it at the disposal of the National Football Museum in England for 18 years, and the shirt is scheduled to be sold for millions of dollars.
And Dalma added on the network “Canal 13”: This player thinks he owns my father’s shirt in the second half, but there is confusion, it is indeed the shirt he wore in the first half, we want to clarify things in order for the people who want to buy it to be aware of it ».
And she concluded, “As for the real shirt, it is not in my mother’s possession, and I do not want to reveal the identity of the person who owns it. All we want to say is that this shirt is not for sale.”
That match between Argentina and England, one of the most memorable encounters in the history of the World Cup, gained special significance for Argentina because it was played only four years following they lost the Malwy War.
The match became engraved in football folklore for two goals for Maradona: one infamous and the other the pinnacle of splendor at the famous “Azteca” stadium in Mexico City.
The first came in the 51st minute when Hodge intercepted a ball on the outskirts of the England penalty area and tried to return it to his goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Maradona ran towards her inside the area and rose to shoot it with his head the moment the goalkeeper left, but he used his hand to open the scoring.
England players protested to the Tunisian referee, Ali Bennacer, but he did not pay attention to them and scored the goal.
Four minutes later, Maradona hit once more and there was no doubt this time. The Argentine star received the ball in the middle of the field and left five English defenders panting behind him before he bypassed goalkeeper Chilton and shot into the goal, a goal that was chosen as the “Goal of the Century” in a poll conducted by the International Football Association “FIFA”.
Then Maradona added two goals once morest Belgium in the semi-finals, before contributing to his team’s 3-2 victory over West Germany in the final, and lifted the prestigious trophy as captain of his country.
