Argentinian football legend, Diego Maradona finally meets referee who allowed is famous 'hand of god' goal against England at 1986 World Cup.
Ali Bennaceur and Diego Maradona
During a private trip to North African country of Tunisia, legendary Argentinal football god, Diego Maradona met, kissed and hugged the referee who allowed his famous handball goal (hand of god goal) in the 1986 World Cup and presented him with a signed jersey when the two met in Tunisia.
It can be recalled that Maradona’s goal against England in the quarter-final in Mexico City gained added infamy when the Argentine, who knocked the ball over the head of the onrushing goalkeeper Peter Shilton with his outstretched hand, claimed it was the ‘Hand of God’.
Tunisian referee, Ali Bennaceur failed to spot the handball and allowed the goal to stand, prompting a debate over the ability of referees from smaller countries to effectively take charge of major matches that still rages almost three decades on.
The pair exchanged gifts for the cameras when they met on Monday in Tunis with Bennaceur handing Maradona a framed photo of himself with the two captains before the match. Maradona’s shirt to the 71-year-old former referee was inscribed with, “For Ali, my eternal friend”.
In an interview years later, Ali Bennaceur blamed his Bulgarian assistant Bogdan Dotchev for failing to alert him to the moment when Maradona punched the ball past Shilton to give Argentina the lead at the Azteca Stadium.
"Before the game, FIFA gave us clear guidelines: ‘If your colleague is better placed than you are, his decision should take precedence.’ That’s what I did: my assistant did not raise his flag,” he told a French football magazine So Foot recently."
That moment when Maradona used his hand to score the goal that put his country through to the World cup final
He also claimed a role in Maradona’s second goal, a mesmerising run through the English defence described as the ‘goal of the century’.
“Maradona did not score that all by himself, that goal. I was his assistant: I played three advantages. I did not have to. For the first foul, he stumbled. The second came just on the edge of the area. I shouted, ‘Advantage, advantage’. And when he entered the area, I was expecting (Terry) Butcher to slice him down. I put my whistle to my lips, I was ready to intervene but I didn’t blow.”