London, April 6 (US): It was the best – or worst – moment in football history, and now big-box sports fans can own a piece of it.
The shirt Diego Maradona wore when he scored the controversial ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at the 1986 World Cup is on sale for the first time, according to the Associated Press.
Sotheby’s said on Wednesday that the shirt could fetch more than 4 million pounds ($5.2 million) in an online auction starting April 20.
Brahm Wachter, head of streetwear and modern collectibles at Sotheby’s, said the shirt is “on a small list of the world’s most important sports memorabilia.”
“I’ll never be able to do anything with that good again,” Wachter said. “A special moment in the history of sports.”
Maradona scored twice during the quarter-final match in Mexico City on June 22, 1986, just four years after Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falkland Islands. The Argentine player’s first goal was ruled by a header, but the ball bounced from Maradona’s fist and out of the referee’s eyes.
Maradona said afterwards that he scored “a little with Maradona’s head and a little in the hands of God.”
Maradona’s second goal made him dribble the ball past almost the entire English team before beating goalkeeper Peter Shilton. In 2002, it was voted “Goal of the Century” in a FIFA vote.
Wachter said the two goals “balance each other brilliantly” and reveal two aspects of Maradona’s personality.
“It was really cunning and included an element of luck,” he said. “But then he scored the second goal, which was one of the most incredible – almost angelic – goals ever.”
Argentina won the match 2-1 and won the World Cup. Maradona, considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, suffered from cocaine abuse and other abuses and died in November 2020 at the age of 60.
After the match, Maradona swapped shirts with England midfielder Steve Hodge, who has never sold them, until now. For the past twenty years it has been on loan to the National Football Museum of England in Manchester.
The blue jersey with stripes of light blue was a one-off, hastily assembled because the jerseys the Argentina team planned to wear were too heavy for the heat in Mexico City. Argentine Football Association patches were stitched, ironed with impressive numbers, including 10 for Maradona, on his back shortly before the match.
Hodge said he was a “proud owner” of a jersey that has “profound cultural meaning to the world of football, the people of Argentina and the people of England”. According to Wachter, Hodge decided “it was just the right time” to sell.
Sports memorabilia prices have skyrocketed in recent years. The shirt could break a record for a piece of athletic apparel, held by a Babe Ruth New York Yankees shirt that sold for $5.64 million in 2019. The buyer paid $8.8 million for the statement that launched the modern Olympic movement, a record for an athletic item. .
The shirt will be on display at Sotheby’s London showroom during the bidding period from 20 April to 4 May.