David Pleat’s memory of Maradona Hand Of God starts with a disputed goal and ends with an on-air line he would rather forget. He described England’s 1986 World Cup defeat to Argentina at Azteca Stadium as the night Diego Maradona took the first goal with what he saw as clear cheating, then followed it with a second that Pleat called the best he had seen live.
Azteca Stadium and the first goal
England played in front of 114,000 people, and the first Maradona goal became known as the Hand of God goal. Pleat said Maradona raised his arm, the ball struck his hand and nestled in the net, and he said Maradona happily took the glory for a clear piece of cheating. Ali Ben Nasser was the referee, and he never handled another World Cup game after that night.
That first goal still carries the dispute because it changed the shape of the match before England could settle into it. Pleat’s account is blunt, but the contradiction remains part of the same story: one of the sport’s most argued goals came from the same player who then produced a second finish that drew admiration even from England’s side of the pitch.
Maradona and England’s response
Minutes after the first goal, Maradona twisted and turned past Reid, Peter Beardsley, Terry Butcher and Terry Fenwick before placing the ball past Peter Shilton. Pleat said that second effort was the best he had seen live. He also compared it with goals from Gareth Bale and Son Heung-min, which gives his judgment a clear standard: not reputation, but the speed, balance and control needed to beat multiple defenders and finish.
England had beaten Paraguay at Azteca Stadium a few days earlier, but this match moved in a different direction once Maradona scored twice. Bobby Robson brought on Waddle and Barnes after the first two goals, and Gary Lineker headed in a superb Barnes cross. England’s group of Shilton, Terry Butcher, Glenn Hoddle and Gary Lineker could not recover the game from there.
Pleat’s commentary line
The other memory Pleat carried from that night was his own commentary faux pas. His line was, “Maradona gets amazing elevation on his balls from the tightest of angles.” It is the kind of mistake that sticks because the match itself already had everything else: altitude, a disputed goal, and a second strike that kept the conversation alive long after the final whistle.
Pleat also said recovery runs were the biggest challenge at altitude, which helps explain why the game opened up once Argentina found space to attack again. The question that lingers from the first goal is the simplest one in the whole debate: how exactly did Maradona avoid the onrushing Peter Shilton when the ball went into the net?
