Diego Maradona’s Hand of God

The Falkland War Ended in a Final Argentine Victory

The Malvinas is what the Argentines call the Falkland Islands. For 150 years, the Falkland Islands had been under British control and still is, and for 150 years, it was a fishbone stuck in Argentina’s throat, causing them chronic bile.

Argentina wanted the Falklands, even though the population of the islands was British, with the islands being without settlement when British ships first arrived on its shores. But, just 2016 kilometres from the Argentine shores, in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and in Patagonia, the Argentines all cried for it to become a part of Argentina. But, the British Empire, now defunct by 1982, with only a few colonial positions left, didn’t agree.

The decaying empire would never allow the Falklands to be taken over by Argentina, for the residents were British, and it was, as the British put it, a matter of pride, after all. But the Argentines didn’t care for British pride. On April 2nd, 1982, Argentine troops landed in the Falklands, as Argentinian ships stationed by its shores. Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was livid.

The Iron Lady's Gambit

Thatcher was having a tough time of it. The Iron Lady, as she was known, had disinvested heavily, and government-owned firms were being sold off to private equity at a pace that infuriated the Labour opposition, socialists, and the working class alike. Some welfare schemes too were being revoked, and it irked those that British colonial grandeur and prosperity had ignored.

Unpopular, but the consummate fighter, Thatcher saw Argentina’s invasion as a means to save her sinking Conservative Tory ship and regain national pride for a nation which for the past 35 years had withdrawn from its colonial territories, starting with India in 1947, followed by Kenya, East Africa, West Africa, and the Caribbean.

The Falklands though was different. It was a land of British settlers, and Thatcher would either take action to restore British pride or sink. She chose to stay afloat.

A British Armada was sent to the South Atlantic, comprising the cream of the British armed forces, along with their elite Gurkhas to boot, to spread fear and break the confidence of the Argentines who had easily occupied the mostly undefended Falklands, and what followed was a war that lasted 74 days. And in the process, 649 Argentines died, including young boys who were friends of the many footballers who were lined up for the Argentine national anthem in the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Sunday, June 22nd, 1986.

The Azteca Battlefield

It was the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup, and Argentina were playing England, just four years after the humiliating defeat in the Malvinas or Falkland Islands. No need to say, the atmosphere was charged up, and the fans on both sides were raring to have a go. But one man was possibly fuming more than anyone else on the pitch, and in this match he would create his legacy, an undying one. The man’s name was Diego Maradona.

The match started and the first half saw Argentina with its hugely talented team, propelled by the genius of Diego Maradona, getting chance after chance. England goalkeeper, the ever-green Peter Shilton, was having a busy day at work to say the least, and the England defense was being run ragged. But England held on, until the half-time whistle sounded, and Peter Shilton, Gary Lineker, Glenn Hoddle could catch a breather after the first half Argentine assault, which was probably greater in intensity than any assault the Argentinians mounted during the short-lived Falklands War.

The teams went into the dressing rooms, and what was said inside is anyone’s guess. But Argentina, specifically Maradona, came out roaring, when the match resumed. And then in the 51st minute an incident happened, which is probably the most famous, or infamous goal in the history of football. It is known as the Hand of God.

Two Historic Minutes

Before you think God blessed Maradona, let me talk about what actually happened:

• The 51st Minute: Steve Hodge, English defender, and the man tasked with coping with El Diego, inadvertently kicked the ball towards his own goal, hoping Peter Shilton would come to the rescue, as he did often throughout his long and illustrious England career. But this time Maradona appeared like a ghost before Shilton and dumped the ball as Shilton went for the ball. What happened next is recorded in the annals of football history as the most bizarre, and the most controversial episode in modern football. It would seem Diego Maradona headed the ball into the goal past Peter Shilton. But in fact, he used his left hand to punch and guide the ball into the net. Before the era of VAR and technology, the referee missed the infraction, or he would have disallowed the goal and granted a free kick to England, and the goal stood, as the Argentines in the audience went wild, with the English fans in despair. Maradona celebrated the goal like he was one of those unfortunate Argentine boys sent to the Malvinas and had just with his machine gun mowed down a British regiment.
• The 55th Minute: The Argentina team went wild with joy, and goaded on by their fans, inspired by Maradona, they attacked in waves, unlike what the Argentine soldiers had been able to do faced with countering the vestiges of the once great British Empire in the Falklands. And the euphoria wouldn’t end, as four minutes later, the ball landed at Maradona’s feet again, and this time he decided to defeat the British Empire all alone. He went past their midfielders, then went towards the wings, and went past their full back, and then cut in and went past their centre backs, and then past Peter Shilton, and shot the ball into the England net. The crowd erupted, and Maradona, having dribbled past six English players, scored a goal that became known as the goal of the century.

The Immortal Legacy

The match went on, and England didn’t give up. Gary Lineker would get a goal back, but in the end, even though the Argentines were tiring, England wouldn’t manage to break the Argentine defense or their spirit.

On the Azteca battlefield, thus Argentina would do what they failed to do in the Falklands using guns—with the ball at their feet, and with the help of the “Hand of God” and Maradona’s “Goal of the Century”, they would finally defeat the British Empire, and send England home. Argentina would then go on to win the World Cup, and Maradona would enter the history books as someone more than a man, more than a god, a legend greater than the gods in heaven, a legend more powerful than kings and ministers—He would go on to become “El Diego.”

England complained about the Hand of God, and till date the players who played in that match, Lineker, Hoddle, and others, grumble about it, even though they have come to terms with it. But, on that fine day in the Azteca, God was on Diego’s side, God had blessed Diego, or so some believers like to say, and the defeat in the Falkland War was finally avenged by the proud Argentinians.

Incidentally, when Maradona was asked if he could have one last wish before he died, what it would be, El Diego said he would like to score another goal against England with his hands, and this time with his right hand.

What’s amusing about this is that even if Maradona were to play handball instead of football, the legend had become so powerful, the man so immortalised, and the aura so God-like that no one would care. El Diego was after all beyond reproach, and when he died in 2020, a whole nation cried. But even though he passed away, the tale of the 1986 quarter final lives on, even in the minds of those like me who were born after the events of that day had transpired. El Diego, as many Argentines say, is immortal.

​
​