Diego Maradona's infamous hand of God goal that helped Argentina beat England on the way to winning the 1986 World Cup was "art", according to the Italian maker of a new film on the player's life.
"Maradona was a genius who, in the end, only ever did harm to himself. That goal was an artistic act," said director Marco Risi at the presentation of the biopic.
"Stealing from the English was not a crime for him. At the time he saw them as the thieves for the war between Argentina and Britain over the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands".
The film, entitled Maradona, La Mano de Dios, comes out in Italy on Friday.
It covers the soccer legend's life story from his tough childhood in the slums of Buenos Aires to the present day.
The Spanish-Italian production is sure to be a box-office hit here, where Maradona remains enormously popular after taking Serie A by storm during a seven-year stretch at Napoli from 1984 to 1991.
But some critics are sceptical.
They fear the film will be too soft on the negative side of the star, such as his alleged links with the Neapolitan Mafia during his time at Napoli and his drug abuse.
Risi rejected this charge Monday and pointed out that cocaine is featured in many scenes.
But he admitted that Maradona's ex-wife Claudia had censored some parts of the movie.
The film also fails to mention the long-unrecognised son Maradona fathered during his time in Naples.
"When I met Maradona he wasn't so concerned about the film itself as much as whether his ex and his daughters would be OK with what they saw," Risi said.
Italian actor Marco Leonardi plays Maradona.
Leonardi - a 35-year-old who resembles the athletic Maradona of his 1980s prime with Napoli - was chosen by Risi in part for his football skills.
The actor, who starred alongside Antonio Banderas and Johnny Depp in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, is a keen and capable soccer player off the set. He is even left-footed, just like Maradona.
Leonardi is perhaps best known for his parts in Italy's 1989 Foreign Film Oscar winner, Cinema Paradiso, and Like Water for Chocolate (1992) by Mexican director Alfonso Arau.
Young Argentine actors play Maradona as a boy and teenager.
An aspiring Italian actor who hit the limelight in Italy's first edition of Big Brother, Piero Taricone, plays a Neapolitan gangster or Camorrista.
Maradona scored 115 goals in 259 appearances for Napoli, leading it to two Italian league titles, an Italian Cup and a UEFA Cup win.
Maradona left Napoli in 1991 after testing positive for cocaine.
Maradona's departure was the start of a gradual decline which featured periodic bouts of drug abuse and overeating.
The film closes with a message: "Today Maradona is back in shape. He has lost 35 kilos but he has not lost the will to fight".
