Football legend "Diego Maradona" says that the same "hand of God" brought the papacy to Argentina as helped it to the 1986 World Cup.

Moreover, in a letter to Rome's Il Messaggero newspaper on Wednesday from his base in Dubai, Maradona, 52, described himself as a devout Roman Catholic and said he rejoiced at the election of his compatriot Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as Pope Francis. While he wrote that he is  truly very happy and he am certain that his enthusiasm is shared by the whole Argentinian people.

In fact, everybody in Argentina can remember 'the hand of God' in the England match in the 1986 World Cup. Now, in his country, the 'hand of God' has brought them an Argentinian pope.

As the fact remains, in a quarter-final tie in 1986, Maradona eliminated England with two goals, one a brilliant solo run through the defence, the other a handball that the referee mistook for a header. In fact, he said afterwards that the goal was scored "a little with the head of Maradona, a little with the hand of God".

That remark still remains painful in England, where the top-selling Sun newspaper's splash on the Argentinian pope showed Francis raising his arm in benediction with the headline: "Hand of God".

(AW:Samrat Biswas)