HAND OF WAD

Maradona's shirt from notorious England match sells for £7m

- JEREMY ARMSTRONG

FORMER England star Steve Hodge got his hands on a fortune last night after he sold Diego Maradona’s infamous 1986 World Cup shirt for a world record £7.1million.

Ex-Nottingham Forest midfielder Hodge faced fury from his teammates for swapping his shirt for the Argentines after their quarter-final defeat.

Maradona had scored two of the most memorable goals in football history to knock us out – the first a clear handball.

He punched the ball, which had looped off Hodge’s boot, past Peter Shilton to put his country ahead.

Later he said the goal was made “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.

His second goal was lauded as “The Goal of the Century” after he dribbled past half the England team to score.

It came four years after the UK defeated Argentina in the Falklands War so the match took on extra significance. In his autobiography, Maradona, who died in 2020 aged 60, said: “It was like beating a country, not a football team.”