FRENCH president Emmanuel Macron praised Diego Maradona for defeating “Margaret Thatcher’s England” with his infamous “Hand of God” goal in his official tribute.
Macron paid the bizarre tribute after the Argentine football hero died of a heart attack yesterday aged 60 at his home in Buenos Aires.
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France’s leader zeroed in on Maradona’s efforts in what he dubbed the “most geopolitical match in football history” as the Argentina knocked England out of the 1986 World Cup.
Argentina had been resoundingly defeated by Margaret Thatcher’s Britain just four years earlier after its ruling military junta attempted seize the Falkland Islands.
The football match propelled Maradona into legend as he scored twice, once with the “Hand of God” and then moments later with the stunning “Goal of the Century”.
He scored first with a blatant handball as he punched the ball into the back of the net, enraging England keeper Peter Shilton.
Then the legend dribbled from inside his own half, leaving the England side in his wake, before slotting the ball again past the keeper.
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The 600-word tribute released by Macron on Thursday described Maradona as having “God as a teammate” during the quarter final game against England.
He said the footie legend was carrying the weight of a country “scarred by dictatorship and military defeat'” on his shoulders.
“This resurrection took place in 1986, in the most geopolitical match in football history, a World Cup quarter-final against Margaret Thatcher’s England, “Macron wrote.
He added: “The [Hand of God] miracle is disputed, but the referee didn’t see a thing: Maradona’s sense of showmanship made him irrelevant.”
Maradona’s incredible skill inspired Argentina to win the 1986 cup – one of his crowning achievements that secured his status of a true legend of the game.
What happened in the Falklands War?
THE Falklands war saw British troops sent to defend our South Atlantic territory from invading Argentine junta forces
The two countries entered a bloody conflict in 1982 and have had strained relations ever since.
Argentina says it has a right to the islands because it inherited them from the Spanish crown in the early 1800s.
It has also based its claim on the islands’ proximity to the South American mainland.
Britain says it has the right to the land based on its long-term administration of the Falklands and on the principle of self-determination for the islanders, who are almost all of British descent.
In a referendum on the islands in 2013 just three residents out of 1,517 were against remaining British.
Some 255 British service personnel died in the successful defence of the islands following an attack and occupation by Argentina,
The 1982 conflict left 649 Argentine soldiers dead.
The conflict was sparked after Argentina seized the islands and Britain sent a Royal Navy task force to retake them.
It became a defining moment of the early tenure of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister and helped reassert British power in the region.
The Argentine dictatorship collapsed just under two years later with the election Raul Alfonsin, whis is considered the father of modern democracy in Argentina
Macron was just eight at the time of the notorious match, but said the “Hand of God had placed a football genius on Earth”.
He described Maradona as scoring the “two most famous goals in football history”.
“There was a King Pelé, there is now a God Diego,” he said.
He went on: “It has just taken it from us, with an unforeseen dribble that has deceived all our defences.
“Did it want, by this gesture, to settle the debate of the century: is Diego Maradona the greatest football player of all time?
“The tears of millions of orphans respond to it today with painful evidence.”
Macron’s comments appear to show he believes Maradona is better than French legend Zinedine Zidane, who is regarded by many in France as the greatest ever.
He also said as a child he was desperate for a Panini sticker of the Argentine legend and hinted he was close to naming his son Diego
Macron wrote: “With the same grace, the same superb insolence, he sneaks up to the final which he marks with the most beautiful gesture in football: the decisive pass, the goal of the number 10.
“When he lifts the trophy, a myth is created. born: the enfant terrible has become the best player in the world.
“And the World Cup finds Argentina: this time, it’s that of the people, not that of the generals. “
He added: “This taste of the people, Diego Maradona will also live it off the field.
“But his expeditions to Fidel Castro as to Hugo Chavez will have the taste of a bitter defeat. It is on the grounds that Maradona made the revolution.
“The President of the Republic salutes this undisputed sovereign of the round ball that the French have loved so much.”
Maradona – who turned 60 last month – has suffered a long battle with his health forcing him to make numerous trips to hospital in recent months.
His last words before he died were “Me siento mal” or “I don’t feel well” in English.
Maradona had gone back to bed after having breakfast with his nephew Johnny Esposito and telling him he was going to lie back down.
A nurse treating him at home later called an ambulance but he could not be saved, according to local reports.
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Argentine President Alberto Fernandez declared three days of national mourning in honour of the star, who was a cultural icon and national hero.
Thousands of grieving fans took to the streets in Buenos Aires and Naples, and a minute’s silence was held before last night’s games in the Champions League.
Years of drug use, overeating and alcoholism brought an end to his stellar career – and left him almost dying of cocaine-induced heart failure in 2000.
Tributes from politicians, players and his peers have remembered Maradona as a intensely gifted but flawed man whose legacy of triumph and tragedy lives on.