I hope this is faked. Still unforgiven but I'd never dream of putting this on twitter in his position
1500+ people on the Titanic, 96 at Hillsborough, plus the Boston bombing, Notre Dame catching fire - and the list goes on
Wasn't a good day for Mrs Pol Pot's husband either, although death meant that he avoided prosecution. Tommy 'I'm on a whiskey diet, I've lost 3 days already this week' Cooper also died.
For me Maradona is forever associated with the 'hand of god ' incident. It's not because he cheated, many players do that and had done that in football, it was because of where he did it and who he was. He was the best player in the world at that time, his skills were there for everyone to see. He was literally a breathtaking player. His ability to control the ball, keep it and pass players with it is still unprecedented. Other players have displayed similar skills, at times, and produced special moments, with Maradona it was routine it's what he did all the time. The 1990 World Cup final was contested by the same two teams as the 1986 final. West Germany v Argentina. The result was reversed in the 1990 final in Rome with West Germany winning. What was surprising to me was that Argentina were in the final at all, because they were quite ordinary IMO, apart that is from one man, the amazing Maradona. That's how good he was! So in that context for this player to cheat blatantly and then celebrate afterwards as some kind of devine retribution that justified it, was beyond it for me. If the best player in the world can cheat and in effect get away with it and then celebrate it, the knock on effect was to change football forever. Changing the attitude to deliberate foul play to 'professional'. Now it's quite normal for pundits to say, he should have brought him down and taken one for the team. Players 'win' free kicks and penalties. Spoils the game IMO and it all stems from the 'Hand of God' Such a shame for me personally that what should be a good memory of an amazing footballer is so tarnished by one moment in time.
Francis Lee and Rodney Marsh were diving to win penalties in the 70s, and in Lee's case it was enabled by fans and pundits joking about how he'd always win a penalty when The Not Yet Sheikh Mansour Team needed one, so highlighting Maradona as Patient Zero for cheating becoming standard in football doesn't really stack up as not only had the aforementioned players got a decade on him, so had the excuses
I specifically said he was not the first it is who he was that makes the difference/ Ask someone in Rio, or Moscow or Cape Town who Franny Lee or Rodney Marsh is, see how you get on. Read my comment and see what I really said.
And perhaps read what I said, specifically the part about how the excuses were already in place long before the Hand of God More than anything, that is why cheating became so commonplace, because rather than condemnation it became "Well actually..." Francis Lee diving? "Well actually, it makes for a good punchline..." Michael Owen diving in back-to-back World Cup games with Argentina? "Well actually, they would've done it to us..." Paul Scholes scything down players for years? "Well actually, it's funny..." Liverpool and Man Utd players hurling themselves to the ground in the penalty area every weekend? "Well actually, he was clever there..." Alan Shearer elbowing defenders for years? "Well actually, he's fighting for the ball like a good striker would..." Fat Ronaldo diving against Juventus and the ref booking him for it? "Well actually, Juve clearly bribed the ref..." Let's be honest here: if Peter Shilton decided to Toni Schumacher Maradona at that moment, we'd have heard 34 years of "Well actually he was trying to cheat..." rather than Shilton getting the condemnation Schumacher got for attempting to decapitate Patrick Battiston four years previously
I think you still miss my point. I said it went on before Maradona but none of those players you mention had the impact.of him. Peter Storey in the game when England were knocked out of the world cup by Poland in 1973 actually rugby tackled a Polish forward on his way to goal, it hardly caused a ripple and he did not celebrate afterwards. The Maradona incident was world famous and the fact that we are still talking about is the proof of it's impact.
The fact nobody made excuses for it is the point, as is the fact people still bring up Francis Lee and Rodney Marsh every time a football pundit pretends that diving didn't exist in England until overseas players became more common As for celebrating after cheating, the fact we've forgotten the Uruguay team chairing off Luis Suarez after his handball against Ghana ultimately kept them in the 2010 World Cup says a lot - namely, screw Ghana, this bloke cheated against England
Gazza on a Zoom chat with Shilton live on Good Morning Britain. “I know a lot of people go on about the Hand of God - it made Peter Shilton, anyway. Shilts, it made you, that goal.
Unfortunate that the "hand of god" goal : 1. happened in the same game as one of the greatest goals ever scored 2. was at the end the difference on the score sheet come FT For those that watched it live, twas actually quite a good game overall.
Shilton appears to have appreciated it... please log in to view this image Coincidentally, that's the exact facial expression he had when he read this in Maradona's autobiography please log in to view this image