A piece of football history is for sale.
Perhaps the ball of the world’s most famous goal situation is the daydream of every football collector. PDO
Diego Maradona the ball touched by the hand in the 1986 World Cup is for sale. Iconic quarter-final match between England and Argentina refereed Ali Bin Nasser has held onto one of football’s most famous objects for a long time, but is finally ready to give it up.
In a situation known by the nickname “God’s hand”, Maradona lifted the ball with his fist in a header situation by Peter Shilton over to the finish line. The legendary soccer player, who died in 2020, once commented that the situation was a little Maradona’s head and a little God’s hand.
Argentina won the match 2–1. Maradona also scored the latter hit, which in turn has been described as the goal of the century. The slick striker danced past five British players and finished the goal without the help of his teammates.
The Tunisian referee is not giving up the ball cheaply. The English Mirror magazine believes that the gaming device will collect up to 3 million pounds, or at the current exchange rate around 3.458 million euros. The price was also high for the jersey worn by Maradona, which was sold in May for more than 7 million. At that time, the price of the shirt was expected to be 4 million, so it would not be surprising if the game ball also exceeded the preliminary estimate.
– This ball is part of football history. Now would be the right time to share it with the world, Nasser commented in the Mirror article.
The referee has told many times why he accepted Maradona’s handball.
“It looks like someone has hit it,” Briton Gary Lineker, who played in the match, commented on the appearance of the ball on Twitter. AOP/EPA
– I didn’t see the situation properly. Both players looked away from me. As previously instructed by FIFA, I looked in the assistant’s direction to get his penalty on target. He ran towards midfield and let it be understood that the goal was in accordance with the rules.
– After the match, England’s head coach told me that I did a good job, but the assistant referee was irresponsible.
Maradona and Argentina marched from the quarterfinals all the way to victory at the World Cup tournament in Mexico. The striker was chosen as the best player of the tournament and later as the player of the year.
Maradona died of a heart attack at the age of 60 in November 2020. A three-day period of mourning was declared in the football great’s home country.