Peter Shilton and England never got over Maradona’s iconic “Hand of God” goal in the quarter-final match of the 1986 World Cup. This was before VAR, but the fact that 1.83 tall Shilton would lose a duel against 1.65 short Diego Maradona, where the Englishman boxed and the Argentine so-called header, says a lot about how absurd this approved goal really was. Maradona jokingly explained after the match that it was “the hand of God.” On Sunday night, Neymar came up with the same idea, but had to see himself exposed.
A quarter of an hour before the end with the 0-0 score between Santos and Botafogo, Neymar got the opportunity in front of goal, and he chose to jump in – with an outstretched hand in front.
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Neymar then lay on the grass and panged after being hit by a tackle at the end, while the Botafogo players protested wildly against the unsportsmanlike goal.
When referee Davi de Oliveira Lacerda began to give Neymar the yellow card – and thus a red card – since Neymar was already in the referee’s book, the icon was quick to stand up and declare his innocence. It didn’t help much. A very disgruntled Neymar was sent to the dressing room.
Not long after, Botafogos Artur scored the only goal of the game, and the Rio club returned to the capital with a 1-0 win and three points.
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Maradona probably “looks down” and rattles off Neymar’s amateurish attempts to copy the World Cup goal.
