'I witnessed Maradona's Hand of God' - a goal still talked about 40 years on

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. 'I witnessed Maradona's Hand of God' - a goal still talked about 40 years on14 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleLourdes HerediaBBC World Service Archivo El Grafico/Getty ImagesI wasn't supposed to be there. I was 17, I had never been to a football match and I wasn't interested in the sport. But that afternoon, walking into the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, I was about to watch Argentina play England in a World Cup quarter-final - and to witness something I would only fully understand many years later.

That morning, we had no plans. A friend of my father had two tickets he couldn't use. Would my mum and I like them?

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My father wasn't sure about his "princesses" going. This was less than five years since the end of the Falklands War and he was worried that tensions between Argentinian and English fans would spill over. My mother didn't hesitate.

This was the World Cup, after all. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and she wasn't going to let her daughter miss out. Lourdes HerediaI dressed up for my first football game as if I was going to a partyThe excitement started as soon as we were en route, as we headed to cross the city to the stadium.

Flags hung from car windows and strangers shouted chants across traffic. I joined in, of course-shouting "Viva México! " with everyone else, even though our team had already been knocked out of the tournament.

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Football didn't matter much to me, but being part of the moment did. If anything, I treated it more like a party than a match. I dressed up, wore far too much make-up, and imagined the stadium would be full of handsome foreign fans rather than legendary players.

My mother raised an eyebrow, but let it slide. Inside the Azteca, the scale of it all was overwhelming. The noise, the colours, the sense that the whole world had gathered in one place.

Around us were fans from everywhere - singing, laughing, dressed in costumes, faces painted in bright colours. I remember thinking less about the game itself and more about how exciting it felt to be there among them. Monte Fresco/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty ImagesArgentina and England fans at the Azteca before the gameWhen the match started, I barely followed what was happening on the pitch.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.