While England were absorbed in their own righteous fury at his first goal, Diego Maradona's post-game comments about his slaloming, solo second goal at the 1986 World Cup sprinkled that goal with an added bit of stardust. Having weaved his way through the full England team and around Peter Shilton, Maradona later apologised to teammate Jorge Valdano for not squaring the ball across the penalty area for his teammate to tap the ball in.
That Maradona had the vision to pick out a pass he didn't even need to play is a testament to his unique, transcendent quality. But had he done so, it would have been the most compelling argument for football to recognise the player who sets up a goal as much as the goalscorer itself.
Happily, this largely happens today (although it can partly be put down to the rise of Fantasy Football, and the need to attribute points to something).
But nonetheless, it is absolutely right that this happens, and to celebrate something that is actually good about modern football, we present to you ten of our favourite assists in football. Get in touch with your suggestions.
Guti for Zidane #1
Guti for Benzema
Luis Suarez for Dirk Kuyt
Fernando Redondo for Raul
Dimitar Berbatov for Cristiano Ronaldo
Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Pedro
Dennis Bergkamp for Freddie Ljunberg
Diego Maradona for Ramon Diaz
Ronaldinho for Xavi
Leo Messi for Luis Suarez
