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Steve Hodge participated in two World Cups with England and won 24 international matches
Former England midfielder Steve Hodge says Diego Maradona’s iconic 1986 World Cup quarter-final jersey is not for sale after an “awkward” week avoiding calls and dealing with “disrespectful” rumors after the death of the Argentine.
Hodge traded jerseys with the legendary midfielder at the end of the famous match at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City and it is now on display at the National Football Museum in Manchester.
“I’ve had it for 34 years and have never tried to sell it,” Hodge, 58, told BBC Radio Nottingham. “I like having it. It has incredible sentimental value.
“I’ve had people knocking on my door non-stop and the phone rings constantly on all radio and television stations, and even foreign stations.
“It has been awkward and it has not been pleasant. I have seen articles on the Internet and there has been a bit of criticism out there saying that I wanted a million or two million and I am selling it for money.
“I find it disrespectful and totally wrong. It’s not for sale. I’m not trying to sell it.”
‘I’ve never blamed him’
Maradona, widely regarded as one of the best players to ever live, died at age 60 last week after suffering a heart attack.
His ‘Mano de Dios’ goal put Argentina 1-0 ahead of England in the round of 16 of the ’86 World Cup. Maradona’s second goal, at the end of a hypnotic career from his own half, made it 2-0, and Argentina held the victory 2-1.
- SEE AND RELIVE: England v Argentina 1986
Hodge, who played for Nottingham Forest for a total of eight years over two terms, as well as for Aston Villa, Tottenham and Leeds United, now works as a pundit and is a regular co-commentator on BBC Radio Nottingham.
He got an up-close look at the good and bad side of Maradona playing in front of some 115,000 people that day.
“Yeah, he hurt us in 1986 and that will always be there,” Hodge said. “But from all corners of the world he was respected and people appreciated his genius. That game will never be forgotten in football history.”
Maradona scored five goals during Argentina’s successful World Cup career in 1986
“I have to say that I never blamed him for handball. Not once,” Hodge added. “I was off duty, but people who play soccer know that you try things from time to time.
“It was a high-pressure match and he took a chance. Thierry Henry played handball a few years ago and he got away with it. On the big occasions when the stakes are high, and this was monstrously high after having had a war for four years. Before that, he took a chance. “
Hodge was the man who threw the ball into the air towards goalkeeper Peter Shilton, a backward pass that Maradona famously punished.
“It was thrown backwards, it wasn’t cut horribly. I caught it perfectly,” Hodge recalled. “And I turned around thinking Peter might come out and catch the ball, but it just appeared out of nowhere.
“A forward normally slows down with a great goalkeeper coming out thinking he might get hurt, but Maradona didn’t. The courage to face a 6-foot-1 goalkeeper when he was 5-foot-5 showed he didn’t give a damn.
“He was as brave as a lion. He used to get kicked everywhere he played.”
But no one, including Hodge, could do anything to stop the fickle Maradona from scoring the ‘goal of the century’ in the same match.
“And I was privileged to be five yards behind him all the way for the second goal,” Hodge said. “What a player. He was just a genius.
“People say to me, ‘why didn’t you run back?’ Well, an hour had passed and if you’re several thousand feet above sea level and you’ve run forward, trust me, you can’t go back. There was no air in my lungs. “
Hodge had a special vision of Maradona’s second goal against England Maradona, a man from ‘another planet’
The game in Mexico was the second time Hodge had the “pleasure” of sharing a field with Maradona.
The first time he came with Forest in 1983 during the preseason, when the two-time European Cup champions met Barcelona at the Camp Nou, a match played after a “good downpour”.
“The game was basically played in a quagmire,” Hodge said. “They couldn’t cancel it because there were already 100,000 people in the stadium.
“So we were a good team and we were always among the top two or three in the First Division and when you saw someone like that coming you would realize, ‘wow, this guy is from another planet.’
“Players would normally try to dribble the ball through the water or pass it firmly. He was kicking the ball up with his left foot, not once or twice, but two, three or four times, looking up and volleying around. from the Camp Nou.
“His command of the ball was just incredible.
“For a kid like me, who was 21 at the time, I thought he was useful, but this guy is much more useful than me. It was a reality check.”
As for the memory of their next match, the 86 jersey, a memento that marks the pinnacle of Hodge’s career, highlights the fact that it is not for sale.
“One day in the future you never know,” Hodge added. “But I’ve never tried to sell it, and definitely not right now.
“If you ever want to go see it, it’s in Manchester.”
The shirt Diego Maradona wore when he played England in 1986 on display at the National Football Museum in Manchester.
Source: bbc.com
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