Unpublished Maradona: how the unpublished photos of “The hand of God” were born.

When football fans count down the minutes to the start of Qatar World Cupone of the most shocking events in the history of World Cup has had a resurgence in these hours, after the release of some unpublished photographs of the match between Argentina and England in the quarter-finals of Mexico 1986 and above all the one who recovers the moment of the first goal by Diego Armando Maradona.

The images were taken by Joe O’Connell, an Irish photography enthusiast who traveled to Mexico in June 1986 to live from the site of the ecumenical competition in which the Argentine national team, led by Carlos Salvador Bilardo, won its second consecration.

How the story is reconstructed The ball doesn’t get dirty, dedicated to sharing images and memories of Maradona’s career and life, O’Connell attended two matches of the national team in that tournament at the Azteca stadium: the quarter-final, against England, on 22 June; and the one in the semifinal, against Belgium, three days later. In both, the best footballer of all time scored two goals.

O’Connell followed the duel against the English from the East Stall of the Colossus of Santa Úrsula, the opposite sector to the one that housed the cameras of the official broadcast, so the perspective is different from that seen on television.

In one of the photos taken by the Irish fan, You can see the moment Diego takes the height to connect the ball with his left fist, while the goalkeeper Peter Shilton launches himself to try, ephemerally, to anticipate the star of Villa Fiorito. It was the moment before the goal that the Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur validated as neither he nor the second assistant, the Bulgarian Bogdan Dotchev, detected any irregularity.

Another image by O’Connell shows the moment of celebration after Argentina’s triumph, with the players raising their arms in the central circle. And another of the crucial moments of the match can be seen in another: Julio Jorge Olarticoechea’s header in the 42nd minute of the second half, when the Albicelestial leading 2–1, which prevented Gary Lineker hitting John Barnes’ cross from the left at the far post to convert the equaliser.