What would have happened if Maradona was caught red-handed for that mischievous goal he scored against England in 1986?
It was indeed a crime, a sin, a violation of the sacred rules of football.
But he went unnoticed, unpunished and with the next goal which was pure magic he became a legend.
Why was it that nobody except the British didn't find the hand of God disturbing? Why was it that nobody except the British cried foul over that criminal act of Maradona?
May be it has something to do with our sympathies. Maradona was the saviour of the underdogs - Argentina.
The memories of Faulkland war, where almost 1000 Argentinian soldiers were killed, were still fresh in memory. Britain was still the brutal, imperialistic force that thirsted for the blood of the colonised.
Diego came at that moment in history. His hand of God was seen as an act of vengeance against the coloniser. They deserved it ...That was the feeling of almost all the Indians, when we came to know that the goal was a foul. The colonised human beings that we were, could see some poetic justice in what Diego did.
And the second goal was an excellent cover for the guilt. The sheer magic of beating 4 major players and overcoming the 6-foot-1-inch Peter Shelton who guarded the English goal box was the ultimate expression of the downtrodden. It was the revenge of the colonised.
Hail Diego, hail soccer!
