HAND BALL!

Beating the nation that taught them the game has always been an Argentine obsession.

In 1986, a packed Azteca including pockets of hard core fans from both sides was watching an evenly balanced match when Maradona leapt to a poor, high clearance and beat England keeper Peter Shilton to the ball, surreptitiously punching it into the net with his fist.

My colleagues from Reuters were shocked when Maradona, pretending to have headed the opening goal, ran off celebrating. The referee, pointing to the centre spot, was surrounded by England players demanding a hand ball decision.

The press tribune high up in the third tier of the giant stadium and a long way from the goal where Maradona scored immediately buzzed, hardly believing the referee had missed the trick.

The Argentina captain described the goal afterwards to reporters as "un poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios" (a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God), coining one of the most famous quotes in sport.

As there was no official translation of it, the "Hand of God" quote was missed by non-Spanish reporters, some of whom later questioned later Maradona had really said it.

England manager Bobby Robson, visibly upset in the post-match conference, tried to temper his disillusion in defeat with his admiration for Maradona's second, brilliant and ultimately decisive second goal in a 2-1 Argentina win.

Maradona's explanation has gone through endless mutations over the years and is often misquoted. His original quote had him audaciously sharing the goal with the source of his God-given talent.