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Maradona's 'Hand of God' revisited!

March 13, 2014 08:14 IST
A television grab of Newcastle's Olivier Kemen  scoring against Chelsea in FA Youth Cup

Newcastle Under- 18 youngster Olivier Kemen re-visited Diego Maradona famous ‘Hand of God’ with a blatant handball goal during their FA Youth Cup defeat by Chelsea, at St James Park.

Maradona's scored the infamous 'Hand of God' goal for Argentina at the 1986 World Cup, when he punched the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton during the quarter-final, which the South Americans won.

According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea went on to cancel out the handball goal and win the match.

They were leading 1-0, thanks to a goal from striker Dominic Solanke, before Newcastle levelled when Kemen extended his right arm to quite literally punch in the equaliser from a Greg Olley free-kick.

Amazingly, the goal was allowed and initiated a first-half comeback from the Newcastle youngsters, as an Adam Armstrong goal gave them a 2-1 half-time lead.

Blues will now face Arsenal

March 13, 2014 08:14 IST
The Chelsea players after the match

Alex Kiwomya, however, levelled the scoring before Jeremie Boga completed Chelsea's comeback with a stunning strike in the 64th minute.

The young Blues will now face Arsenal in the semi-final after the Gunners defeated Everton 3-1 at The Emirates on Monday night.

Maradona dribbled past four players to score for Argentina

March 13, 2014 08:14 IST
Diego Maradona dribbles on way to his second goal during the 1986 World Cup match against England

Kemen may have been able to emulate Maradona's cheeky 'Hand of God' strike, but the young Frenchman will surely find it harder to copy his second goal of the game against England in 1986.

Just four minutes after handling the ball into the net, Maradona scored one of the best goals ever at a World Cup, dribbling around four English players before slotting past Shilton to give Argentina a 2-0 lead in Mexico.

The stunning effort was actually voted as the 'Goal of the Century' in 2002 as part of the build-up to the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and just pipped Michael Owen's famous goal against Argentina during France '98.

Messi's very own 'Hand of God'

March 13, 2014 08:14 IST
Barcelona's Lionel Messi (left) scores with his hand against Espanyol's goalkeeper Carlos Kameni (right) during their Spanish First Division Soccer League match at Nou Camp Stadium

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi emulated Diego Maradona when he scored a replica of the Argentine great's famous goal with a desperate equaliser against city rivals Espanyol in 2007.

With his side trailing 1-0 to their city rivals, Messi launched himself at a Gianluca Zambrotta cross and connected with his hand to steer the ball past Espanyol 'keeper Carlos Kameni on 31 minutes.

The Espanyol players' protests to the referee were to no avail.

Messi, who is being heralded as Maradona's successor since he broke into the Barcelona first team, produced a carbon copy of the former Argentina captain's solo goal against England in the 1986 World Cup earlier this season.

Intercepting the ball from inside his own half on the right flank in a King's Cup match against Getafe, he dribbled past two defenders, swerved past two more and then rounded the 'keeper to score from a tight angle.

Thierry Henry steals one for France

March 13, 2014 08:14 IST
Thierry Henry

France ensured their participation in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with a goal that broke Ireland’s hearts.

There was nothing wrong with the finish from William Gallas, but Thierry Henry admitted using his hand to keep the ball in play and commentators and Irish supporters were soon talking of “The Hand of God II” and “The Hand of Henry” in reference to Maradona in 1986.

'Yes, there is handball but I am not the referee.

'I’m in the box, there are two defenders in front of me. The ball bounced off my hand, the referee did not see it and I played on,' Henry had said.

The result, 1-1 on the night, gave France a 2-1 aggregate win and saw them join Portugal, Greece and Slovenia as the successful sides on the final night of European qualifying. 

Henderson's punches one back of the net

March 13, 2014 08:14 IST
Darius Henderson celebrates after scoring

Nottingham Forest claimed a controversial equaliser against Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship when Darius Henderson effectively punched the ball into the back of the net.

After the 32 year-old striker got in front of the defender, he elected against attempting either a diving header or volley, and opted for the more precise use of his arm to direct the ball in.

Two minutes after coming on as a 78th minute substitute Henderson converted Andy Reid’s left-wing cross past Boro 'keeper Dimi Konstantopoulos.

Klose earns respect

March 13, 2014 08:14 IST
Miroslav Klose of Lazio and Paolo Cannavaro of Napoli in action during the Serie A match

In another rare incident, in a Serie A match involving in Napoli and Lazio, Miroslav Klose scored off a corner kick to put Lazio ahead 1-0.

While the Lazio players began to celebrate, Napoli protested the goal, saying that Klose scored with his hand, which he did.

Klose then admitted his offense to the referee, who disallowed the goal, and the Napoli players showed their appreciation for Klose's honesty.

Although Napoli went on the beat Lazio 3-0, it was the 34-year-old German legend who earned the lion's share of respect.