Obviously an incredible, other-wordly player, but I've never been able to get past the thought that he was on some kind of performance-enhancing drugs at the '86 World Cup.

There have long been rumours that Argentina's 1978 squad were given drugs to aid their energy levels. There have been claims that they were so high on speed that they had to run for hours after games to use up the excess energy. They supposedly used a waterboy to supply clean urine so they would pass their drug tests. This was a nation not averse to giving their athletes a 'boost'.

Then there's the fact that Maradona openly admitted using a fake penis and a bag of urine to fool drug testers for years. He did it so often it became part of his matchday routine. This was a man for whom drugs were a major part of life.

Fifa protocols eventually changed to combat his evasive measures and his drug-taking finally caught up with him at the 1994 World Cup, where a nurse actually escorted him from the pitch holding his hand after he had played against Nigeria. He thus had no opportunity to obtain clean urine and he was caught so pumped full of ephedrine that he could have taken on the Chinese Army.

So yes, 'that' goal against England was incredible. But in my eyes, too incredible.

Drugs or no drugs...Shilton shouldn't have been outjumped by someone who was 5 ft 4!

No, although Shilton was only 6ft himself, not big for a keeper.

That being said, he probably wouldn't have been out-jumped if Maradona hadn't used his arm. If you look at the many photos of the incident, Shilton's fist is higher than Maradona's head and it's entirely possible (though we'll never know for sure), that he would have beaten him to it under normal 'fair' circumstances.

Have another look at the footage and still photos of the Hand of God goal. Shiltons feet were barely off the pitch. He didn't even jump properly!

That's the point though isn't it, he didn't think he had to.

He said himself that he never came out for a ball he wasn't certain he could win, and I'll take his word over either of ours.

Maradona was the best player ever.
Better than Messi and Ronaldo without a doubt. Pele too.

Whatever silly things he did away from the pitch- thats his own business. He didn’t harm anyone.

Tell that to the four journalists he put in hospital after shooting them with an air rifle!

Obviously an incredible, other-wordly player, but I've never been able to get past the thought that he was on some kind of performance-enhancing drugs at the '86 World Cup.

There have long been rumours that Argentina's 1978 squad were given drugs to aid their energy levels. There have been claims that they were so high on speed that they had to run for hours after games to use up the excess energy. They supposedly used a waterboy to supply clean urine so they would pass their drug tests. This was a nation not averse to giving their athletes a 'boost'.

Then there's the fact that Maradona openly admitted using a fake penis and a bag of urine to fool drug testers for years. He did it so often it became part of his matchday routine. This was a man for whom drugs were a major part of life.

Fifa protocols eventually changed to combat his evasive measures and his drug-taking finally caught up with him at the 1994 World Cup, where a nurse actually escorted him from the pitch holding his hand after he had played against Nigeria. He thus had no opportunity to obtain clean urine and he was caught so pumped full of ephedrine that he could have taken on the Chinese Army.

So yes, 'that' goal against England was incredible. But in my eyes, too incredible.

Drugs or no drugs...Shilton shouldn't have been outjumped by someone who was 5 ft 4!

No, although Shilton was only 6ft himself, not big for a keeper.

That being said, he probably wouldn't have been out-jumped if Maradona hadn't used his arm. If you look at the many photos of the incident, Shilton's fist is higher than Maradona's head and it's entirely possible (though we'll never know for sure), that he would have beaten him to it under normal 'fair' circumstances.

Or if he hadn't been so slow off his line.

Obviously an incredible, other-wordly player, but I've never been able to get past the thought that he was on some kind of performance-enhancing drugs at the '86 World Cup.

There have long been rumours that Argentina's 1978 squad were given drugs to aid their energy levels. There have been claims that they were so high on speed that they had to run for hours after games to use up the excess energy. They supposedly used a waterboy to supply clean urine so they would pass their drug tests. This was a nation not averse to giving their athletes a 'boost'.

Then there's the fact that Maradona openly admitted using a fake penis and a bag of urine to fool drug testers for years. He did it so often it became part of his matchday routine. This was a man for whom drugs were a major part of life.

Fifa protocols eventually changed to combat his evasive measures and his drug-taking finally caught up with him at the 1994 World Cup, where a nurse actually escorted him from the pitch holding his hand after he had played against Nigeria. He thus had no opportunity to obtain clean urine and he was caught so pumped full of ephedrine that he could have taken on the Chinese Army.

So yes, 'that' goal against England was incredible. But in my eyes, too incredible.

Drugs or no drugs...Shilton shouldn't have been outjumped by someone who was 5 ft 4!

No, although Shilton was only 6ft himself, not big for a keeper.

That being said, he probably wouldn't have been out-jumped if Maradona hadn't used his arm. If you look at the many photos of the incident, Shilton's fist is higher than Maradona's head and it's entirely possible (though we'll never know for sure), that he would have beaten him to it under normal 'fair' circumstances.

Time to get over it.

His other goal was a wonder goal. The greatest ever?

You have absolutely no evidence that Maradona was under the influence. Just bad faith guesswork.

It’s irrelevant anyway, ask any pro from his era, they were all in awe of him because he was so much better than anyone else.

Nothing to do with recreational drugs or otherwise.

Of course I don't have any evidence, I'm not a lawyer presenting a court case. I'm posting an opinion on the internet and it's up to you whether you believe it holds any water or not. It makes no odds to me either way.

Great player? Yes, of course. Let's just leave it at that.

Of course I don't have any evidence, I'm not a lawyer presenting a court case. I'm posting an opinion on the internet and it's up to you whether you believe it holds any water or not. It makes no odds to me either way.

Great player? Yes, of course. Let's just leave it at that.

So how does the fake penis and bag of urine work? You have posted that as fact.

Cheating c*** ruined my enjoyment of Mexico 86 as an 8 year old. I was convinced England would have made it to the final with Belgium next to play in the SF.

If only we'd had VAR then. How different things could have turned out.

Of course I don't have any evidence, I'm not a lawyer presenting a court case. I'm posting an opinion on the internet and it's up to you whether you believe it holds any water or not. It makes no odds to me either way.

Great player? Yes, of course. Let's just leave it at that.

So how does the fake penis and bag of urine work? You have posted that as fact.

Having never used one I can't supply you with any details of that, though I'm sure you can use your imagination.

Using a fake penis to deceive drug testers wasn't exclusive to Maradona, by the way. Mike Tyson has admitted using one, as has ex-NBA player Lamar Odom.

Odom actually provided a bit of detail on how it worked, since you're interested, Balham. Enjoy!

At test time, Odom asked his trainer to donate a clean urine sample, filled the prosthetic, and used it to fake-pee into a cup as a NBA security official watched, he admitted.
"I carefully slid the fake penis through the zipper hole. To get the pee to come out of the tip, I had to squeeze the shaft repeatedly."

Did Lamar Odom also slalom his way through one of the greatest goals of all time, wearing some of the tightest shorts of all time, all the while apparently having a fake penis flapping around his pants and bag of clean urine strapped to his stomach?

Did Lamar Odom also slalom his way through one of the greatest goals of all time, wearing some of the tightest shorts of all time, all the while apparently having a fake penis flapping around his pants and bag of clean urine strapped to his stomach?

What an image.

I think the idea is that you install the 'prop' after the game.

Of course I don't have any evidence, I'm not a lawyer presenting a court case. I'm posting an opinion on the internet and it's up to you whether you believe it holds any water or not. It makes no odds to me either way.

Great player? Yes, of course. Let's just leave it at that.

‘Holds water’ ....brilliant Woodsy

Of course I don't have any evidence, I'm not a lawyer presenting a court case. I'm posting an opinion on the internet and it's up to you whether you believe it holds any water or not. It makes no odds to me either way.

Great player? Yes, of course. Let's just leave it at that.

There must be a university thesis floating about somewhere on the pros/cons of attaching fake penii
before a drugs test