“It was the most unjust goal in footballing history.”
So said Peter Reid about Diego Maradona’s remarkable solo effort against England a mere four minutes after he cheated England of their right to World Cup success.
The goal saw Reid flailing after the Argentine wizard, while Butcher and Fenwick decided (Fenwick later absolving himself of any blame by insisting he’d already been booked and didn’t want to risk a red) hardly covered themselves in glory. It was majestic from start to finish.
But back to the matter in hand – literally. Ever since that goal on 22 June 1986 it seems as if England’s national side still carry around the largest of chip’s ever made on their shoulders.
Unable to move on from being wronged more than 30 years ago (in a quarter final) it is now to blame for every subsequent disappointment which becomes more embarrassing at every tournament. Bar a brief reprieve in 1990 and 1996, England has used Maradona as the excuse for abject failure.
Shilton said: “Maradona makes me sick.
“I do not see how I could forgive him. He never apologised.
And why should he Peter?
The bigger question is how did a big strapping lad like yourself come to be outjumped by a man barely able to see over a dining table in an era when it was legally allowed and wholly acceptable for keepers to assault any opposing forward who dared enter his realm?
That is forgetting the comical defending in the build-up which saw Glen Hoddle clearly still feeling the effects of twenty pints of lager the day before allowing Diego to stroll unopposed through the defence and then be delightfully assisted by Steve Hodge with the worst clearance of all time.
Only four years earlier, Germany’s Harald Schumacher commit attempted murder on France’s Patrick Battiston for having the audacity to enter his penalty area and compete for the ball in the air. Could it be that Maradona thought something similar was coming?
Even the still frame photo that’s endlessly printed in UK tabloids every time a tournament comes round shows Shilton doesn’t even leave the ground. It was pathetic!
I don’t blame Maradona at all. It was all of England’s making and was every bit as embarrassing as the goal being awarded. Of course it was hand ball but it was hardly the most unjust goal of the century!
The fact he rubbed it in four minutes after by once again demonstrating how easy it was to glide through England’s team that day only serves to vindicate him.
The commentary on this clip is quite something ...
