![]() “England last night rekindled the hopes of a nation… and gave a massive V-sign to the rest of the world who had written off our Mexican mission.”Īfter dismantling Paraguay to set up a quarter final showdown with Argentina, the English press wasted no time zeroing in on the obvious standout threat. Fortunately, thanks to a hat-trick from eventual Golden Boot winner Gary Lineker, they did just that, sparking a renewed sense of optimism in the process, as Harris wrote: A mere minute later, his midfield partner Ray Wilkins was sent off.Īfter these two “embarrassing results”, rendering manager Bobby Robson, according to Mirror Sport’s Harry Harris, “a man who knew his head was in the noose”, misfiring England needed to beat 1982’s third-place finishers Poland to avoid an untimely exit from the competition. In the 41 st minute, talismanic captain Bryan Robson suffered a shoulder injury, ruling him out for the rest of the tournament. After a shock defeat against Portugal in the opening match, England endured perhaps an even bigger nightmare in a goalless draw against Morocco. England’s path to the last eight, however, was less straight-forward. Scoring against holders Italy in the group stage, Maradona guided Argentina to the last 16, where they defeated South American rivals Uruguay. In Argentina, he was simply “El Pibe de Ore”: The Golden Boy. ![]() Then the world’s most expensive player, Maradona was, at 25, already viewed as both a genius and loose cannon across the globe. The man in question was Diego Armando Maradona. Twenty years later, the influence of Argentina’s captain dwarfed that which had been provided by Rattín. And despite Leitch’s opinion that “There was no doubt that England deserved victory”, in Argentina the match would become known as “El Robo de Siglo”: the robbery of the century. Manager Alf Ramsey refused to let his players swap shirts with the Argentineans at full-time, reportedly calling them “animals”. “Rattín is the motor of all their midfield play and without him Argentina could not mount any worthwhile attacks.”Įngland would go on to win the game – one of many featured in our England football book – and the tournament. ![]() Rattín refused to leave the pitch, and then disrespected a Union Jack corner flag when he finally did. In the first half, Argentina’s captain Antonio Rattín received two yellow cards in the space of a minute, for reasons unclear to seemingly everyone but the referee. ![]() The last time the two nations had met in a competitive football game was in another World Cup Quarter Final, in 1966. ![]() However, the Falklands conflict wasn’t the only English victory deemed worthy of retribution by the Argentineans. The bitter aftertaste of the Falklands War four years earlier still remained on Argentine lips, and for many, a football match was as good an opportunity as any to exact revenge. Going into their 1986 World Cup Quarter Final, tensions between England and Argentina could hardly have been any higher. Maradona’s “Goal of the Century” (Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons) Here, with the help of original newspaper reports from the time, we revisit the most notorious chapter in Maradona’s legendary football story. Across the decades of football covered in our personalised football books, no major tournament has ever been so dominated by one man alone. It is quite simply impossible to discuss the 1986 World Cup without talking about Diego Maradona. ![]()
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