I don't think anyone's actually shocked by this revelation from Maradona..........after all he admitted to it immediately after the game with his hand of God comment. That said: What's most troubling about this behavior is that he spoke about how he convinced the team to "celebrate, or he'll take it away.", referring to the ref and his teams puzzled reaction about how obvious the goal was. Maradona should've owned up to the foul regardless of the circumstances. Roy Carroll should've owned up to the goal he let in last year against Tottenham. Regardless of the circumstances and no matter how important the game, we should remember that this is a gentleman's game, not one for liars, cheats, and drug abusers. Let's keep some respect, in a sporting world full of "relative behavior", Football should set the example. How many times do we complain about professional athletes in the states? All the time. Ask yourself what's behind those complaints. Sports players aren't held to the same standards the rest of us are, and the importance of the game shouldn't require lowering the standard. Especially in football.
Hard fouls aren't cheating. They're part of every game that happens. Punching the ball into the net is no where near what you're describing. Nice try on lowering the standard in our sport, but there are enough great players out there that disagree with you.
Yeah, it was Konchesky's tackle on Jenas. The red card was rescinded, but it was still a class act by Shearer. Konchesky pointed out that Shearer thought it wasn't a red, but it was to no avail.
Hard fouls (and tactical fouls too) are against the rules, just like handling the ball with the hands. They are both punished with a free kick and at the discretion of the refery also with a yellow or red card. If you want to argue that fouls are not a form of cheating because they are much more common, I fail to see the logic in that. In fact, I would argue that fouls are a much bigger problem for the game precisely because they are much more common. Fouls destroy creativity, allow the untalented hacks to take down the great talented players, and take away from the beautiful game. And from a humane standpoint, they are more dangerous because they cause injuries. (And I say that as an untalented hack who is very good at fouling as much as the refs let me get away with). I would argue that what Gentile did to Maradona throughout the Argentina-Italy match at the 1982 World Cup under the blind eye of the refery was a much more serious offense against the game than what Maradona did against England at the 1986 World Cup.
Hard fouls are the result of trying to win the ball, punching the ball into the net is the result of aiming to punch the ball in the net, but it's not the only foul here. The next one comes in the act of trying to act like it never happened, and convincing your team to play along.
Most hard fouls (and of course tactical fouls as well) are an attempt to stop the action, not an attempt to win the ball. Most fouls are committed after a realization that it is not possible to win the ball. Or else they are commited in order to intimidate. And yes, players will often try to pretend they didn't commit the foul which they know they have commited. I know. I played both DM and defense.
Is murder not a crime because it happens in every city? Hard fouls are cheating. They violate the rules. So does punching the ball into the net. Hard fouls sometimes end a player's career. A hand ball virtually never does. In any event, the referee decides whether it has happened. In 1986, the referee happened to miss it -- in part because Maradona happened to know he was out of position. Maradona for all intents and purposes admitted it in his first post-game interview. I recall a post by a Spanish speaker here months ago saying that the actual quote from Maradona, in response to a question of whether he had used his hand, was that it was "poquito de Dios, poquito de Diego [a little of Divine intervention, a little of Diego]". Besides, Maradona was the subject of more cheating hard fouls than he was ever the perpetrator of hand balls. In fact, the West German players before the final publicly announced that their strategy for stopping Maradona in the final was going to be fouling him viciously into the turf every time he touched the ball. Was that more justified than a hand ball? Of course, Maradona had the last laugh, and he guaranteed it. He told the press that he had teammates who could score, he'd pass them the ball, they'd score and Argentina would win. It happened, just like Maradona guaranteed.
Yes, funny that, isn't it? I mean, you never see the French or Italians whining about the Hand of God goal - they were obviously able to deal with it in a much more mature way.
I think Rivaldo should read this.. his display was the worst.. I'd say.. even worse than Maradona's. Why? because it was completely unnecessary...
I think you are reaching here... the fault rests solely on the shoulders of the referee for making the bad call. yes maradona did a handball, yes he told him team mates to play along... and... everything else is just sour grapes. period. why don't you gripe about another handball - Germany's defending of the goal in 2002... equally as bad if you ask me... and don't tell me none of the other german players knew... they saw it and played along as well.. maradona's act of cheating is not unique... not by a long stretch..
it wasnt the first time in maradonas career he handballed...i have seen few days ago his handball save in the pealtyzone in a worldcup game against sovietunion (watching a fifa dvd)....this was much more a deliberate handball save than german defender frinke did in the usa game.....handball means not automatic penalty call, there are fifa rules for the referee to judge it ...the referee has judged ball against hand in frinke case , but after viewing the replay i think he was wrong for the reason it was few inches hand to ball..only the replay confirm that clearly .....but maradonas hand to ball save against sovietunion was clearly deliberate and nobody need replays to judge it..........