The mystery of the shirt with which Maradona scored the goals against England in '86: all versions and the millions at stake

The world of football set its eyes on an auction that appeared on the renowned Sotheby's site, where it was announced that former British footballer Steve Hodge is willing to sell one of the shirts that Diego Armando Maradona wore in the quarterfinals between Argentina and England of the World Cup in Mexico 1986. Priced at between five and seven million dollars, the current owner assured that it is the shirt that Pelusa used in the second half of the duel, in which he signed The Hand of God and The Goal of the Century.

In an interview with the England national team's official channel in 2011, Hodge sat next to the shirt in question and told his perspective on the story. “I knew it was the end of the road. Now I'll try to get your shirt if possible. Then I went out on one side of the court, which goes down and he came with a partner. So I took my shirt, as is normally done, it passed me by and we made this gesture as a token of gratitude. He took off his shirt, I gave him mine. And that was it, ten seconds and that's it,” he started.

In addition, at the time he classified the chance to sell the shirt as “irrespectful and incorrect” and in the same note he explained his perspective: “Would you sell it? I don't know. Obviously it's not something I would sell now, but possibly in the future. It is in a decent condition to be 25 years old. It was hardly touched, it was never washed. From the day I got it in Mexico, I kept it in an attic and no one touched it for 15 years until now that it is in the museum (in Manchester). So, his DNA, sweat and smell are still out there. It's like that day. I like having it, people asking me about it and I even wrote a book. Obviously the value today is different, but I didn't do it thinking about it after the game 25 years ago. The story grew in the last 25 years of who for me is still the best player in history.”

However, a few hours after the news of the auction went viral, Dalma Maradona went out to cross Steve with his version: that the shirt of the two goals is not the one he has. “You have no way of verifying that it is the second half. He's lying! I'm going to explain. He (for Hodge) does not have the shirt of the two goals, but he can't say it because the other one has much more value, which is the one he doesn't have. There is one for the first half and another for the second. No one can prove that the change existed. Anyone who knows just a minute, a second to my dad knows that he didn't give that shirt to anyone,” he revealed on Radio Metro's A Perfect Day program.

And he added that he knows where the historical shirt of the Argentine team is: “You change the one from the first half because you don't know what will happen in the second half, I imagine. This man doesn't have it, poor man anyway. He doesn't have it. Surely. I know who has it. I know perfectly well that he doesn't have it. I don't think that's it. What's more, it's not. I also don't want to say who has it because it's crazy.”

The panel of the radio show was frozen by Dalma's story and Diego's daughter sought to make her classmates understand why Pelusa had never released that relic. “One second, think about it. The anecdote is 'I caught him so off guard that he gave it to me'. Dale, the day of his life was. But I didn't confirm it, he said it. 'How am I going to give him the shirt of my life? '” , posed in front of the microphone. In addition, he admitted that he saw it with his own eyes in the hands of the current owner, whose name he decided not to disclose.

To close, he aimed not to leave any kind of room for controversy: “I don't say this because the guy seems like a total bark to me who is making money with something he wouldn't have to, but because it's the truth. People who are going to participate in that auction need to know that it is also an important shirt that they have: the one from the first half without goals. A shame, what do I know. I still feel that I am not objective because for me that shirt is worthless. If you want to hold an auction, you can't.”

A few minutes later, Claudia Villafañe joined the debate and the first thing they asked her was whether she has Hodge's shirt and if Steve's shirt isn't the second half. “Both things I say yes. It's going to be the word of this former player against ours,” he shot safely. On the other hand, he questioned the decision of the former footballer to auction the shirt and took the opportunity to give an idea to the leaders of Argentine football: “What this man has is that of the first half that if he wants to auction it is a sin. I don't think this player needs the money. Unless you want to auction it to do a good work. It would be good for the AFA to buy it.”

Another source to use for more certainty in history is one of Diego Maradona's own stories. “On the way to the locker room, one of the English boys (it turned out to be Hodge, but I wasn't sure at the time) asked me to exchange our t-shirts. I said yes and we did it”, he detailed in the book 'Touched by God', in which he recounts the feat of Mexico 1986.

It should be noted that the economic dispute over this jewel in world football history will begin on April 20 and will end on May 4. Given the statements of the Maradona family, an explanation is expected from the auction house to confirm whether it is the jacket of the second half or if it modifies the specifications, accepting that it is the one of the first half and, consequently, lowering the price, which for now is estimated to be between 5 million dollars and almost 8 million dollars. North American currency.

Now, what happened to Hodge's shirt that was left in Diego's hands? According to Andrés Burgo in his book El Partido, Maradona had Hodge's shirt “10 or 15 minutes”. Why? Oscar Garré had exchanged his shirt with Gary Lineker, who wore number 10. And Pelusa loved the number 10 t-shirts. As a result, as soon as he arrived in the dressing room, he asked his partner to change it for that of the striker who became a journalist and presenter. Years later, Garré detached himself from Hodge's garment. Yeah, he sold the shirt at an auction...

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