The shirt that Diego Maradona wore against England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, scoring one goal with his hand and one after dribbling the entire opponent’s defense, will be auctioned on the internet. This was announced by Sotheby’s. For more than 35 years, this blue Argentina shirt, with the number 10, was owned by former English midfielder Steve Hodge, who exchanged it for the Pibe de Oro at the end of that game won by the Argentines 2-1 and played on the ground of the Azteca stadium on June 22, 1986. The shirt was donated to the National Football Museum in Manchester for display.
Sotheby’s, which in turn will exhibit it in its London office during the sale on the Internet (20 April-4 May), has set the starting price at 4 million pounds (over 5 million euros). The auction record was set in 2019 at $ 5.6 million for a jersey worn by American baseball legend Babe Ruth in the late 1920s. At 6 ‘of the second half of that game, immediately after a ball deflected into his own area by Hodge, Maradona rose in front of the English goalkeeper Peter Shilton and, pretending to score with his head, slipped it in, pushing the ball with one hand. La mano de Dios, said the Argentine captain after the game. Four minutes later, Maradona scored one of the best goals of the last century. «There could be a lot of demand on the market for this object – predicts the head of Sotheby’s, Brahm Wachter -. He can go to a museum, a club, a collector or, perhaps, someone who wants the best of the best. “