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| May 31, 2002 | Friday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 18,1423 |
Maradona ’86 strike voted goal of century
SEOUL, May 30: Diego Maradona’s virtuoso second goal scored against England at the 1986 World Cup has been voted the greatest World Cup strike of all time.
The Argentinian’s dribble from the halfway line at the Azteca Stadium beat off stiff competition from England’s Michael Owen and Brazilian legend Pele in an internet ballot held on FIFA’s official website.
Maradona etched his way into World Cup legend 16 years ago with his solo effort, where he bamboozled the entire England defence before clipping the ball past Peter Shilton in a 2-1 quarter-final win.
The same match also saw Maradona secure his place in football folklore’s hall of shame, with his famous ‘Hand of God’ goal. His second however has entered the history books for all the right reasons.
The goal earned him 18,062 votes in FIFA’s poll, well clear of Owen on 10,631 votes and Pele.
Owen’s nomination was for his spectacular goal against Argentina in the last 16 at the 1998 World Cup, while Pele’s choice was for his second in the 1958 final against Sweden.
Other wonder goals to make it into FIFA’s top 10 included another Maradona effort from 1986 - his glorious slalom through Belgium’s defence in the semi-final.
Romania’s Gheorge Hagi made it onto the list for his sensational cross-cum-shot against Colombia in 1994. Another lesser-known goal to rival Maradona’s was the one scored by Saudi Arabia’s Saeed Owairan against Belgium in 1994.
While goals scored through individual genius tended to dominate the poll results, there was room in the top 10 for Carlos Alberto’s fabulous fourth from Brazil’s 4-1 victory over Italy in the 1970 final, often referred to as the greatest team effort of all time.—AFP
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