World Cup Phrase of the Day: The Hand of God - Part II

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Every day during the World Cup, the languagecaster team explain a football phrase or cliché connected to this summer’s tournament. Click on the link below to hear the word or phrase and you can also read the transcript. You can find many more examples by going to our football phrase page here football clichés here and our huge football glossary here.

The Hand of God, refers to a goal scored by Maradona against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter finals – scored with his hand. After that game the Argentinian maestro said the goal was, ‘a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the Hand of God.’ At this World Cup, nearly 25 years later there is a new Hand of God. Luis Suarez’s save on the goal line in the last few seconds of extra time put Ghana out – they lost on penalties. Suarez parried the ball away with a fantastic reflex save with his hands. Heartbreak for Ghana, but instead of feeling a little sheepish about the hand ball which stopped a certain goal, Suarez has claimed, ‘the real Hand of God belongs to me,’ referencing Maradona’s famous ‘goal’.

Very cruel on Ghana and another chapter in the history of the World Cup – the Hand of God part II!