On the passing of Diego Maradona, journalist Tim Vickery joined OTB Sports to discuss one of the Argentine icon's most memorable performances against England in the 1986 World Cup.
Before he ever became 'Tim Vickery, South American football expert,' the well-known football journalist was sitting at home in England to watch the World Cup quarter-final in 1986.
England vs Argentina in Mexico City, it has become a game by which many have attempted to boil down the multitudinous Maradona into something more easily understood.
Reflecting on the Argentine's stellar career, his amazing talent and the off-field problems that dogged him throughout his life, Vickery isolated those 90-minutes against England for what they meant not only to Maradona and his legacy, but Argentina's as a whole.
"So much of what he did with his life was the living out of an Argentine fantasy," Vickery noted of the prodigious talent who emerged from his impoverished beginnings to take on the world.
"That was especially the case in those 90-minutes against England. It was his background and [football's] background in Argentina that make it so important."
"Football was reinterpreted by the Argentines," Vickery remarked of the game as it developed in Argentina. "From the game that was brought in by the British, and particularly the English, it was reinterpreted into something more balletic, a game more ideal for the player with a smaller centre of gravity.
"That reinterpretation led to international triumphs and recognition for a country that wasn't getting much of such things."
After achieving success in the 1978 World Cup that was hosted in Argentina, the 1986 edition brought them into direct competition with England at the quarter-final stage.
"For the English press," Vickery recalled, "so much of that game was about the [Falklands] War between both countries a few years earlier, but from the Argentine point of view it went deeper.
"Argentina had been an informal part of the British empire where the British had realised that they didn't necessarily need to control a place militarily in order to hold sway. You just had to hold onto the purse strings.
"So, Argentina had found itself on the wrong end of this colonial relationship and the first goal Maradona scores is the classic revenge of the people on that wrong end."
The famous 'Hand of God' goal, what so infuriated English players and fans gave the Argentine fans - and many more besides - a sense of boundless satisfaction.
"There would have been the feeling among Argentines that, 'OK, the English might have the formal power, but we're smarter - we can run rings around them'," Vickery suggested. "With the second goal then, that's simply a declaration. 'We're better than you are.'
"Funnily enough, his performance against Belgium in the semi-final, a more important game, was even better. But because it is against England and he scored the two goals how he scored them, that is the game that has defined his career."
You can watch Tim Vickery's full interview in its entirety here - Keep an eye on OTBSports.com for more coverage on Diego Maradona
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
