Maradona worksheetsIt was the 1986 world cup quarter final. England played against Argentina. A player called Maradona scored a goal in a way which some people said was against the rules.

You are going to be using three reading skills: looking, inferring and thinking, to investigate the incident.

Reading skill one: LookingLooking involves finding information which is right in front of you. Look at the image above and answer the following questions.

How many players can you see?

What colour is the player on the left wearing?

What is the jumping player doing with his hand?

1

2

What is the player on the right wearing on his hand?

Has the keeper stopped the ball?

What can you see in the background?

If you know…what football rule is being broken in this image?

Challenge: How many adverts can you see in this image? Who are they for?

List them below.

Read

ing

skill

two:

infe

rrin

gIn

ferr

ing

invo

lves

com

bini

ng w

hat y

ou s

ee w

ith w

hat y

ou a

lrea

dy k

now

, to

mak

e go

od g

uess

es. F

ill in

the

empt

y bo

xes

to g

ive

it a

go!

Chal

leng

e: c

an y

ou c

ompl

ete

the

bott

om tw

o ro

ws,

with

you

r ow

n in

fere

nces

?

I loo

ked

and

saw

that

…Fr

om th

is I

can

infe

r tha

t…I i

nfer

red

this

bec

ause

I al

read

y kn

ow

that

…

Mar

adon

a is

wea

ring

blue

.M

arad

ona

play

s fo

r Arg

entin

a.Ar

gent

ina

usua

lly p

lay

foot

ball

in b

lue

and

whi

te k

it.

Mar

adon

a is

rais

ing

his

hand

in a

fis

t.Pe

ople

can

use

fist

s to

eff

ectiv

ely

punc

h th

e ba

ll.

The

play

er o

n th

e rig

ht is

wea

ring

glov

es.

The

play

er o

n th

e rig

ht p

lays

as

a…

The

goal

keep

er h

as n

ot s

topp

ed th

e ba

ll.

Ther

e ar

e lo

ts o

f peo

ple

wat

chin

g th

e ga

me

in th

e ba

ckgr

ound

.

3

4

Reading skill three: thinkingThinking involves giving your opinion on something you have seen or read. It’s now time to think: should Maradona’s goal have been allowed?

Fill in the gaps below to write an answer.

I think that Maradona’s goal (should/should not) have been allowed.

The goal was clearly scored using his

and this is (fair/unfair) because

.

One reason I believe the goal (should/should not) have been

allowed is that

.

I also ask you to consider the fans of (England/Argentina) who

would have felt .

Because of this goal, in my opinion Maradona should have been

.

Challenge: After the game, the referee was never allowed to work in high level games again. Do you think this was fair?

Try to make your answer fill these lines.

5

Recap You have now applied three reading skills to an image. Can you apply them to a text?

Match the skill with the definition.

Reading skill

Looking

Inferring

Thinking

Definition

Responding to the text with your own opinions and ideas.

Finding information that is right there in front of you in the text.

Using clues in the text and your own knowledge to make good guesses.

Looking activity Read the text below and answer the looking questions.

1. Who said the quotation in the box above?

2. Name the two body parts mentioned in this quotation.

3. Which two things does Maradona say helped him to score the goal?

•

•

“The goal was scored a little bit by the hand of God, another bit by the head of Maradona.”

Diego Maradona

6

Infe

rrin

g ac

tivity

Fill

in th

is ta

ble.

You

will

nee

d to

act

like

a d

etec

tive,

to in

fer w

hat M

arad

ona

real

ly m

eant

whe

n he

sai

d th

is q

uote

.

Que

stio

nM

y an

swer

I inf

erre

d th

is b

ecau

se I

alre

ady

know

th

at…

Wha

t tw

o th

ings

doe

s M

arad

ona

mea

n by

‘the

han

d of

God

’?

1.

God’

s ha

nd, h

elpi

ng h

im to

sco

re.

2.

___

____

____

____

____

____

____

____

___

The

goal

was

a h

andb

all.

Doe

s M

arad

ona

feel

gui

lty

abou

t sc

orin

g th

e go

al w

ith h

is h

and?

Yes

, he

soun

ds li

ke h

e fe

els

guilt

y.

No,

he

does

n’t s

ound

gui

lty.

Whi

ch te

am d

oes

Mar

adon

a th

ink

God

supp

orts

? E

ngla

nd

Arg

entin

a

Who

was

Mar

adon

a tr

ying

to a

nger

w

hen

he s

aid

this

quo

te?

Chal

leng

e: U

sing

eve

ryth

ing

you

have

lear

nt, w

hat c

an y

ou in

fer a

bout

Mar

adon

a? C

ircle

ALL

of t

he c

orre

ct s

tate

men

ts.

He

is v

ery

hone

st.

He

wan

ts to

win

foot

ball

mat

ches

how

ever

he

can.

He

love

s hi

s co

untr

y.

He

hate

s m

oths

. H

e do

esn’

t min

d br

eaki

ng th

e ru

les.

He

is c

ompa

ssio

nate

(he

care

s ab

out t

he fe

elin

gs o

f oth

ers)

.H

e is

cun

ning

(get

s hi

s ow

n w

ay u

sing

cle

ver t

ricks

).

Thinking activity Do you find Maradona’s joke funny?

Fill in the gaps below to write an answer.

In this quote, Maradona was making a joke because “the hand of God” could mean two

things. It could mean Maradona was helped by but it could

also mean that .

I find this joke (funny/not funny) because

.

I think England fans are (right/wrong) to be offended about

this joke because

.

Challenge: A few years before this match, Argentina and England had a military war called ‘The Falklands War’. Why do you think winning the game was particularly important to both countries?

Try to make your answer fill these lines.

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