A moment of undisputed sporting genius is a rare thing. Rarer still is one that encapsulates everything that defines the genius who created it.
A moment of undisputed sporting genius is a rare thing. Rarer still is one that encapsulates everything that defines the genius who created it. And for it to come barely 200 seconds after a momentously disputable moment makes it a sporting trifecta we are likely to never witness again. That is exactly how the stars aligned on the 22nd of June 1986 at the Estadio Azteca in the sweltering summertime heat of Mexico City. The scorecard will record that Argentina scored in the 51st and 55th minute of the World Cup quarterfinal to defeat England 2-1. And it will record the scorer of those goals as Diego Maradona. And while numbers and dry facts sadly don’t possess even a pixel of imagination, the preternatural Argentine had captured the world’s with what he did with that second goal. The first goal was the infamous ‘Hand of God’ strike, when England goalie Peter Shilton and Maradona leapt for the same aerial ball and the Argentinian managed to punch it past him for a goal that Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser shockingly allowed to stand despite protestations from the English. As England tried to wrest their way back in the game, at the stroke of the 55th minute, Peter Beardsley, under pressure from Jose Luis Cuciuffo, gave the ball carelessly away in the Argentine half. Two passes later it had found its way on to the feet of Diego Maradona. The diminutive playmaker was hovering just inside his own half, and the moment the ball landed at his feet, it’s as if a switch had been flipped.
