Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal may have been 32 years ago, but the sense of injustice still burns bright for former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
And Shilton was eager to revel in Argentina’s misery after a shock 3-0 defeat by Croatia on Thursday evening left them on the brink of a humiliatingly early exit from the 2018 World Cup.
With just one point from their opening two matches, the South Americans must beat Nigeria handsomely in their final group game as well as requiring an exceptionally fortuitous set of results in their favour.
Not that Shilton has any sympathy for their situation. Or for Maradona’s – who was left in tears by Thursday night’s chastising defeat.
“God was looking down on me this morning!” Shilton tweeted along with three pictures. One showed the Hand of God incident, the other Maradona sobbing in Russia and the third Shilton grinning for the camera.
“Having watched the worst football Argentina has played in a World Cup on the eve before the anniversary of the hand of god incident (sic).”
Maradona has infamously never apologised for the Hand of God – when he punched the ball over Shilton and into the net in a World Cup quarter final in 1986 – and Shilton said earlier this year that he will “never forgive” his nemesis.
“After much recent speculation and this year's fan debate - I'll never forgive Maradona, I will never shake his hand, it's never going to happen, not in my lifetime!”
