Maradona's most famous goal ball sold for two million pounds sterling
The ball from which the late Argentine legend Diego Maradona scored his most famous goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England was sold for two million pounds ($2.4 million) at auction in London today.
The white Adidas "Azteca" ball, which was owned by Tunisian match referee Ali Bennacer, was expected to fetch £3 million ($3.6 million) when it was offered at the UK's GrahamPad auction.
This comes six months after the shirt Maradona wore in the same match sold for around $9.3 million - more than double the value Sotheby's had predicted at the time.
The ball - inspired by Aztec architecture and murals - was used for the full 90 minutes of the match in Mexico City in 1986, years before the multi-ball system was introduced.
The confrontation witnessed a sharp escalation due to the political tensions that followed the Falkland War in 1982, and the two most famous goals in the history of the World Cup were scored: one infamous and the other a summit of magnificence at the famous "Astica" stadium.
The first came in the 51st minute when English player Steve Hodge intercepted a ball on the outskirts of the England penalty area and tried to return it towards his goalkeeper Peter Shelton, so Maradona ran towards it inside the area and rose to follow it with his head the moment the goalkeeper left, but he used his hand to open the scoring.
The England players protested to the Tunisian match referee, but he did not care about them and awarded the goal.
Four minutes later, Maradona struck again and this time there was no doubt.
The player, who died at the age of 60 of heart failure in 2020, collected the ball in midfield and manipulated four English defenders, before cutting past Shilton and firing into the goal that was chosen as the “Goal of the Century” in a poll conducted by the International Football Association (FIFA) in 2002. Argentina won 2-1 before going on to claim their second and final world title against Germany in the final.
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