It is 20 years since Diego Maradona scored two of the most famous goals in World Cup history within five minutes of each other.
BERLIN: It is 20 years since Diego Maradona scored two of the most famous goals in World Cup history within five minutes of each other.
The enduring image from Mexico City's Azteca stadium on June 22, 1986, will differ depending on where in the world you come from.
For the English it's the sight of defender Terry Fenwick, pursuing Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser waving his hand in the air in an attempt to make him realise that the goal had been scored with the hand.
For Argentines it's the sight of Maradona running half the length of the pitch past five England players on his way to scoring his second - the greatest World Cup goal ever.
And for the neutrals the image is of Maradona - all 5 feet 5 inches (166cm) of him, out-jumping 6 feet 1 inch goalkeeper Peter Shilton with his left hand raised and clearly making contact with the ball.
As it looped over Shilton's head Maradona wheeled away in delight, urging his team mates to join him in the celebrations. "I was waiting for them to celebrate with me," he said afterwards.
"I told them 'come on hug me or the referee will disallow the goal'.
"If you rob a thief, you get a 100 percent pardon," said Maradona, when he finally admitted he had punched and not headed the ball past Shilton. "It was pick-pocketing the English."
Maradona's first reaction after the game was to accredit the goal to "the hand of god" a phrase now so ingrained in the language that seems to have existed pre-1986 and is still being used in this World Cup.
Stitched into every pair of football boots that young Argentina star Lionel Messi will wear during this tournament are the words "Mexico '86 The hand of god".
Since the goal the phrase has been used in everything from Scottish bar names to the US cartoon series, "The Simpsons".
In Buenos Aires football fans can buy T-shirts depicting Homer Simpson in his Argentine football shirt rising up to punch the ball Maradonesque past Shilton.
"Peter Shilton's Handball Maradona" is the name of an Argus Software computer game. Shilton's biography had a picture of the goal on its back cover.
And the goal was even mentioned by world chess champion Gary Kasparov in a press conference after he was beaten by the computer Deep Blue which he claimed had been tampered with by human hands.
Kasparov complained: "Maradona called it the hand of god."
But if Maradona's first goal goes down as the most controversial ever, his second goes down just as the greatest.
On a FIFA website poll it won 18,062 votes and was the clear winner in the search for Greatest Ever World Cup Goal. Michael Owen's goal against Argentina in 1998 came second with 10,631 votes.
Maradona went past Glenn Hoddle, Peter Reid, Kenny Sansom, Terry Butcher (twice) and Terry Fenwick before shooting past Shilton and Gary Lineker admitted afterwards: "It was probably the only time ever in my career that I felt like applauding an opposition goal."
England came back in the second-half and Lineker headed in a cross from substitute John Barnes in the 81st minute. Barnes crossed again for Lineker moments later but the England striker couldn't finish and it was Argentina that progressed to the semi-finals.
Maradona then scored two more extraordinary goals against Belgium to put Argentina through.
Although he had a quieter game against Germany in the final he did play a part in Jorge Burruchaga's winning goal. And after the 2-1 victory fittingly lifted the World Cup in the stadium where he had scored that incredible double.
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