Gate by “Hand of God”
Maradona’s shirt sold at auction for 8.8 million
05/04/2022, 7:44 p.m
In his Argentina national jersey, Diego Maradona scored his legendary goal through the “Hand of God” in 1968. Now the shirt of the “football god” is changing hands for several million. Only recently, however, have there been doubts as to whether the right kit will be offered at the auction.
The jersey in which the Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona scored his famous goal with the “Hand of God” in 1986 was auctioned for a record price of the equivalent of 8.8 million euros. The auction house Sotheby’s said it was the highest price ever paid for a sports memorabilia at auction. Sotheby’s initially did not provide any information about the buyer.
The previous record for a sporting memorabilia was $8.8 million, which was achieved at a 2019 auction of the 1892 Olympic Manifesto. The most expensive jersey by an athlete to date was that of baseball legend Babe Ruth of the 1920s New York Yankees, which also fetched $5.6 million at auction in 2019.
Argentinian football legend Maradona’s jersey has now fetched £7.1m, the equivalent of $9.3m. Maradona wore the blue national team jersey with the number 10 on June 22, 1986 at the World Cup in Mexico in the quarterfinals against England and scored two goals in it that went down in history.
“Hand of God” in the game
In the 51st minute, the then 25-year-old striker handed the ball into the opponent’s goal. Maradona later said the “hand of God” helped him. Just four minutes after the controversial goal, Maradona scored a dream goal when he dribbled around half the England team from his own half and put the ball in on a superb solo run. The goal is considered the “Goal of the Century”. Argentina won the game 2-1 and later became world champions. Maradona, who died in 2020, finally rose to become Argentina’s national hero and football “god”.
The shirt previously belonged to former England midfielder Steve Hodge, who swapped his shirt with his Argentinian opponents after the game. Hodge later even titled his autobiography The Man With Maradona’s Shirt.
Maradona’s daughter recently expressed doubts as to whether the online auction offered the correct jersey. The Argentinian captain only wore the jersey offered by Sotheby’s in the first half, she explained. However, Sotheby’s stated that they had the “right” jersey.