Everyone remembers what Diego Maradona did to England in the 1986 quarter-final. Fewer people remember that he did something very similar a few days later against Belgium.
In the semi-final, Maradona picked up the ball and ran at the Belgian defence. Four defenders tried to stop him and each was left behind. He finished calmly past goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff. Argentina won 2-0 and went through to the final, which they won against West Germany.
Is the Belgium goal as good as the England goal?
Experts often say it was, and the comparison is not silly. The style was almost identical to the Goal of the Century: the low centre of gravity, the close control, defenders arriving a fraction late one after another. The Belgium goal simply had the bad luck to come second, in a tournament where Maradona had already set the bar very high.
That is exactly why it matters. Anyone tempted to call the England goal a fluke has to explain how he did the same thing again in the next round. The Belgium goal settles that. It was not a one-off; this was how Maradona played in Mexico, and opponents could see it coming and still not stop it.
If the England goal had never happened, this would probably be the goal the world calls the finest of the century. Maradona in 1986 was operating on a different level from everyone else on the pitch, and Belgium found that out the hard way.
Tomorrow: number 3.
