Maradona to lead Argentina in unofficial rematch vs England

[y2krog2000]

Diego Maradona and his 1986 World Cup-winning Argentina teammates have agreed to an unofficial rematch with their England counterparts.

The teams will meet at Villa Park in Birmingham on October 14 for a friendly meeting – more than 21 years after Maradona struck two of soccer's most talked about goals for Argentina to win the quarterfinal match 2-1 in Mexico.

Maradona punched in the first goal – and then dubbed it the "Hand of God" – before scoring what is regularly voted the best goal in soccer history. He has been joined by players including former England captain Bryan Robson, Glenn Hoddle, Chris Waddle, Peter Reid and Ray Wilkins in confirming his participation.

Organizers said they hope to have all the players and both coaches involved in some capacity.

"Everyone talks about the 'Hand of God' from this match," Maradona said. "It was a bit of mischief ... after the goal, I was waiting for my teammates to embrace me and no one came.

"I told them, 'come hug me or the referee isn't going to allow it."'

Argentina, with the likes of Jorge Burruchaga, Jorge Valdano and Oscar Ruggeri, went on to beat West Germany 3-2 in the final for its second World Cup title. England had arguably its best side since 1970 – when it narrowly lost to West Germany at the same stage of the World Cup.

It is unclear how much of the match Maradona will be able to complete. He has battled obesity, cocaine addiction and alcoholism since his 1997 retirement and had eight serious hospitalizations in the last decade.

Gary Lineker, who scored England's lone goal to finish top scorer at the 1986 World Cup with six, is unable to play, but has agreed to take the first kick of the match.

Argentina beat England in front of more than 114,000 fans on June 22, 1986, spurred by the country's defeat to Britain in a conflict over the disputed South Atlantic territory of the Falkland Islands – called "Las Malvinas" in Argentina.

Maradona gave his team a 51st-minute lead when he leaped to challenge goalkeeper Peter Shilton and punched the ball into the net.

Three minutes later, with England still upset at the referee's failure to spot the blatant handball, Maradona justified his status as the world's best player by scoring one of the most famous goals of all time.

The playmaker dribbled half the length of the pitch and past five players before slipping the ball low past Shilton.

Lineker got an 80th-minute goal back and England came close to forcing an equalizer.

"It's one of those games that's talked about so much and meant so much that it's impossible to forget how devastating it was to lose and to lose to one absolutely amazing goal but also to one which was, let's say, a little dubious," Reid said. "This is our chance to show what we can do and get a little bit of revenge.

"They've said they're coming to play and that's fine by us. We're going out to win – no question."

While several of the England players are still reasonably fit and take part in the country's five-a-side Masters Series – a regional indoor tournament – the Argentina players have been training for two months for the match.

"This time, we will come to England, there will be no mischief, only great goals," Maradona said. "For us, this is very serious.

Hopefully it will be on tv.