On Wednesday, the footballing world was rocked by the news that Diego Armando Maradona had passed away at the age of 60.

The Argentine is widely recognised as one the greatest players the sport has ever seen.

Many football fans actually believe him to be the greatest ever, partly due to the his superhuman efforts at the 1986 World Cup with Argentina.

Maradona was unplayable out in Mexico, scoring five goals and contributing five assists as the South American nation won football's most coveted trophy.

No player has ever contributed to more goals in a single World Cup campaign, but one of those goals was - and still is - shrouded in controversy.

Against England in the quarter-final, Maradona intentionally handled the ball into the net - out jumping Peter Shilton in the process - and amazingly, the officials didn't spot the offence.

After the game, Maradona coined the famous phrase 'Hand of God' to describe the goal and as such, he's still labelled by many as a 'cheat'.

However, what many modern football fans will be unaware of is the sheer volume of awful challenges Maradona was subjected to by England players during the match.

A video has now gone viral across social media highlighting some of those horrendous tackles and it is certainly eyeopening.

Intentional elbows, awful slide tackles and more, the England team were out to hurt Argentina's talisman during that quarter-final some 34 years ago.

Yes, Maradona's handball was clear and obvious cheating, but the fact it's still criticised so rigorously in the present day while England's shocking tackles continue to be ignored is just ridiculous.

What is more, the Argentine legend followed up his illegal goal with one of the greatest solo strikes ever seen.

Maradona had his flaws, of that there is no doubt. However, the constant demonising of his 'Hand of God' in 1986, and the subsequent attacks on his influence over the sport as a whole, need to stop.