It’s Diego Maradona’s 60th birthday this week and England fans won’t want to hear what he wants on his special day.
The Argentine icon joked that the only gift he dreamed of was another ‘Hand of God’, a goal against England – and scoring it with his right hand this time!
Maradona opened the ball in the net as he passed England goalkeeper Peter Shilton in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final.
But the incident was not spotted by the referee and despite furious protests from manager Bobby Robson and the English players, the goal was given.
Moments later he produced what many consider to be one of the greatest individual goals of all time, slaloming down England’s back line before scoring the winner to send his side to the tournament semi-finals. .
Following England’s victory, Argentina defeated West Germany 3-2 in the final in Mexico and this cemented the legendary status of Captain Maradona.
And the Napoli icon couldn’t help but bring up his famous ‘Hand of God’ goal for Argentina against England and joked that he dreams of being able to do it again.
When asked what he wants when he reaches the special milestone, Maradona said France Football: “I dream of being able to score another goal against England, this time with my right hand!”
Last year, Maradona remained wary of his controversial actions which ultimately cost England a place in the World Cup semi-finals.
“I knew it was my hand,” he says. “It wasn’t my plan but the action unfolded so quickly that the linesman didn’t see me put my hand. The referee looked at me and he said, ‘Goal.’
“It was a nice feeling like a kind of symbolic revenge against the English.