“Today there was an offer of four million. I honestly believe that it will exceed the price we estimated and that it will become the piece of football that has reached the most money at auction, “says Wachter to Eph.
The shirt, cult for Argentines and for football, is the one that the 25-year-old Maradona wore in Mexico for the quarterfinals against England. A classic duel for the still painful Malvinas war and for everything that happened in the second half of that match.
I think it will exceed the price we estimated and that it will become the most expensive piece of football at auction.
In the 51st minute, Hodge himself made a mistake in a clearance, sending the ball into his area. Maradona jumped at the same time as Peter Shilton and introduced the ball into the English cage. With hand. Or as he said: “A little with the head and a little with the hand of God.” “I told my teammates to come celebrate or the referee would overrule it.” No one had the courage to invalidate that. Shilton, to this day, still has not forgiven Diego for cheating.
Four minutes later, Maradona scored the best goal in history. Héctor Enrique gave the Villa Fiorito player an assist in midfield and he dribbled past five players before making it 2-0 to the ecstasy of Víctor Hugo Morales, the match’s narrator.
After the match, after Hodge did not dare to ask the hero for the elastic first, the Englishman had a second chance. After an interview with television, he spotted Maradona along with a couple of companions. “An English boy approached me and asked me to change the shirt. I told him yes“, revealed Maradona in the book “Touched by God”. Surely the best deal of Hodge’s life.
“Now he thinks it’s time to sell it,” adds Wachter about a shirt that has not been without controversy. Since it was created.
Carlos Bilardo asked for lighter jerseys for the temperatures and humidity of Mexico and Argentina’s sponsor Le Coq Sportif made them, but only for the home version. In those quarterfinals, Argentina had to play as a visitor, so at the last minute they had to find a model that would fit them and allow them to play comfortably. Bilardo and his team were not able to choose between the two options they were given, until Diego arrived. “This one, with this one we will beat England.”
And 36 years later, the controversy is still alive. One of Maradona’s daughters claims that the shirt that has gone up for auction is not the one with the goals, but the one she wore in the first half. Sotheby’s strongly denies this.
“In order to bring an object like this to market, it has to pass numerous tests. The first thing is that Maradona confirmed in the book that he gave it to Hodge,” explains Wachter.
“We have also done a photographic comparison process where minute details are thoroughly analyzed between the shirt we have here and the images from the time. We have compared the shirt with the photographs of the post-goal celebration and it is the same. A protruding thread on the F of the AFA shield, a notch below the insignia, and several protruding threads above the top“, adds the commissioner, who adds that they have not been in contact with the daughters, but with Maradona’s sisters, who have offered him support.
The Hand of God T-shirt will be auctioned to the highest bidder from today until May 4, a period in which the curious will also be able to visit it at the Sotheby’s gallery in central London.