Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ Goal Inspires Kenyan Pastor To Pen Soccer Book
NAIROBI, Kenya — Argentine soccer icon Diego Maradona’s magic goal in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal match against England in Mexico, which he attributed to the “Hand of God” as it was secured by his fist, has been the subject of intense debate whenever and wherever soccer fans are gathered.
Some have gone ahead and penned books based on that phenomenal event, which made Maradona both a hero and a villain — depending on where your loyalty lies.
They include “Maradona: The Hand of God” by Jimmy Burns, “Maradona: The Autobiography of Soccer’s Greatest and Most Controversial Star” and “Maradona: The Hand of God and Beyond” by Hojat Naghshejahan.
READ: More Than Just A Game: Why Soccer Is Very Much Like A Global Religion
Forty years after that World Cup — and with another tournament on the horizon co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico — Kenya’s Rev. David Mutuku has written a book anchored around the events of that edition.
“The Touchline: A Case for Faith in a Strumming of 39 Parables” combines religious stories, his own experiences and a mix of poetry to reveal how God works in mysterious ways to shape our destiny on a daily basis.
Most of the parables are pulled from the Book of Mathew, which Jesus uses to describe what heaven is like, comparing it to a mustard seed, which, though the smallest, grows into a big garden tree allowing birds to perch on its branches, yeast and treasure hidden in a field.
In the book, Mutuku, who is a pastor at the International Christian Center in Nairobi’s Assemblies of God congregation, reveals how Maradona’s exploits inspired his sporting, academic and pastoral journey.
Growing up in rural Kenya, Mutuku, like many of his generation, did not have a TV at home. Instead, he walked a few miles to the home of a relative who owned one so he could follow the happenings of the soccer tournament in faraway Mexico.
He recalled that the tournament’s eventual outcome, won by Argentina 3-2 against West Germany in the final, was beyond human enterprise and was instead ordained by God — noting that Colombia, which had originally been selected to host the global extravaganza, had ceded the opportunity to an earthquake.
The Rev. David Mutuku has written “The Touchline: A Case for Faith in a Strumming of 39 Parables.” (YouTube screenshot)
To prove that Argentina’s success was predestined, Mutuku notes that the tournament in Mexico was almost marred by an earthquake eight months before it started.
After Maradona’s goal was allowed by Tunisian referee Ali Ben Nasser, the player attributed it to “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God” — a controversy that refused to die.
For Mutuku, the “Hand of God” moment provided great inspiration as it spread across the world, including to the remote Uuni village in eastern Kenya where he was raised, cementing his belief that in God everything is possible.
“There was something in the air that season, following that memorable tournament,” he said. “You could feel it! A mystery profoundly crystallized in this one phrase: ‘Hand of God!’ A magical spark that provoked the human imagination towards extraordinary achievement. It compellingly demanded more, beyond limits. Something spectacular and divine!”
In the book, Mutuku also recounts an incident during college games at the East African School of Theology in Buruburu, Nairobi, in 2009, when he thought his “Hand of God” moment had arrived to take a decisive penalty kick.
“I stepped forward with only one intention and option on the table: To place the ball at the back of the net,” he said. “The ‘Hand of God’ was finally at hand. My Mexico moment smiled at me. This was the moment of a lifetime, the moment I had been waiting for.”
However, before he could take the kick, the de facto captain rushed to stop him.
“At the final moment before I could lunge forward, a shout vividly rang through the pitch ‘Davie! Davie!” he wrote. “I looked up to see our de facto captain hurtling down towards me with his hand raised up. The way the hand was raised, you got the impression he had a message straight from heaven. It reminded you of Moses’ raised staff as the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. I waited pensively. You will miss it! Let me take it instead!”
He added: “Utterly disgraced, I shrank back from my moment. We then watched in shock as the crossbar denied us, and our opponents went on to seal the all-important win in their last shot. What a rock bottom! Right there, I recalled mum’s hesitant look back at childhood! Oh! ‘The Hand of God!’ Real or fiction? The line couldn’t be blurrier. The God had, in their full force, forsaken and banished me. If there was such a thing as the Hand of God, then it was not for me!”
His belief in the power of God was, however, resuscitated two years later when Kenya Assemblies of God Archbishop Rev. Philip Kitoto and his wife, Diana, visited him and his wife Danielle when he asked him what he wanted to do with his life. He responded, “Discipleship.”
“Always a man of few words – that marked the end of that conversation,” Mutuku said. “That was one huge defining moment and a turning point that also saw my pastor encourage me to continue writing. A remarkable Monday Danielle and I always treasure.”
Tom Osanjo is a Nairobi-based correspondent for ReligionUnplugged.com. He is a former parliamentary reporter and has covered sports, politics and more for Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper.