Maradona's daughter raises doubts about her father's shirt being auctioned

One of the daughters of the late Argentine star Diego Maradona has raised doubts about the shirt that will be auctioned by Sotheby's on April 20, noting that it is not the shirt in which he scored his two famous goals against England, but rather the one he wore during the first half of that match.

Dalma Maradona revealed to Argentine newspapers, "It is not the shirt, and I cannot reveal who is in possession of it now, but what is happening is madness. It is not the shirt that this person owns (Steve Hodge, England player in that match)."

She added that her father, Diego, said to her, "How can I give him the shirt of my life?"

Referring to the shirt in which he scored Argentina's two goals during their 2-1 victory over England in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, Mexico, on his way to winning the title, knowing that the second goal was chosen as the goal of the century after a referendum conducted by the International Federation of the game.

A Sotheby's spokesman responded to Maradona's daughter's allegations in a statement to AFP, saying, "In fact, there is another shirt that Maradona wore in the second half, but there are clear differences between the shirt in the first half and the shirt he wore when he scored the two goals. The shirt is in the auction, we did scientific studies to make sure that this is the shirt that Maradona wore in the second half when he scored the two goals.

Steve Hodge had claimed for 35 years that he exchanged shirts with Maradona at the end of the match and put it at the disposal of the National Football Museum in England for 18 years.

The shirt is set to sell for millions of dollars.

Dalma added on the network "Canal 13" on Wednesday evening, "This player thinks he owns my father's shirt in the second half, but there is confusion, it is indeed the shirt he wore in the first half."

She concluded, "As for the real shirt, it is not in my mother's possession, and I do not want to reveal the identity of the person who owns it. All we want to say is that this shirt is not for sale."

That match between Argentina and England, one of the most memorable matches in the history of the World Cup, gained special significance for Argentina because it was played only four years after losing in the Malwy War.

The match became engraved in football folklore for two goals for Maradona: one infamous and the other the pinnacle of splendor at the famous "Azteca" stadium in Mexico City.

The first came in the 51st minute when Hodge intercepted a ball on the outskirts of the England penalty area and tried to return it to his goalkeeper Peter Shelton. Maradona ran towards it inside the area and rose to shoot it with his head the moment the goalkeeper left, but he used his hand to open the scoring.

Then Maradona raised the controversy after that, saying that the goal was scored "a little bit by Maradona's head and a little by God's hand."

Four minutes later, Maradona hit again and there was no doubt this time.

The Argentine star received the ball in the middle of the field and left five English defenders running behind him before he bypassed goalkeeper Sheselton and shot into the goal, the goal that was chosen as the "Goal of the Century" in a poll conducted by the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA).

Then Maradona added two goals against Belgium in the semi-finals, before contributing to his team's 3-2 victory over West Germany in the final and raising the prestigious trophy as captain of his country.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news