Diego Maradona – The Greatest Player The World Has Ever Seen – by Keith Hackett
Argentina declared three days of national mourning last week for one of their football icons, Diego Maradona.
Maradona, was small in stature (5 foot, 5 inches) with a low centre of gravity, but he was a giant on the field of play. He was given the nickname ‘El Pibe de Oro’ (The golden kid).
He demonstrated on many occasions that he had wonderful skill and on many occasions played a major role in the result of the games that he participated in.
In 1987 I was appointed to referee a huge game at Wembley Stadium that celebrated the centenary celebrations of the English Football League.
Maradona was one of the players selected to play for the Rest of the World team and I witnessed at close hand the reasons why he was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award.
Maradona’s vision, passing, ball control and dribbling skills were all possible because of his low centre of gravity and he possessed an explosive sprint that allowed him to pass his opponent after confusing them with his all-round skills.
I can recall his participation in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico where he captained Argentina and led them to victory over West Germany in the final, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
However, in the Quarter Final, he did not adhere himself to positive comments from England fans as he scored both goals in a 2-1 win.
The first goal stunned England when he jumped for the ball with goalkeeper Peter Shilton and deliberately handled it. The handball knocked the ball away from the Shilton and went in the back of the net.
I sat in amazement waiting for the referee to blow his whistle to disallow the goal, he did not and Maradona’s actions became known as the ‘HAND OF GOD’. It was a clear act of cheating and the referee who failed to see and penalise the offence was sent home in disgrace never to referee an International game again.
The second and winning goal followed a 60-metre run by Maradona who dribbled past five England players to score. In 2002, it was voted by FIFA.com THE GOAL OF THE CENTURY.
Despite my disappointment that England had been knocked out of the World Cup, little did I know that a year later I would be shaking his hand to determine the toss for the start of the Football League’s Centenary game where he was nominated Captain of the Rest of the World team.
Whilst the game passed without incident, the eyes of the spectators in the stadium and those watching on television around the world were focussed on him.
It was an enjoyable match to referee and Maradona did not disappoint having been paid £97,000 to play in the game.
His playing career extended into Italy and later he captained his national side Argentina.
Keith Hackett
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