Antonín Panenka
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Antonín Panenka (born December 2, 1948 in Prague) is a former Czech footballer.
An attacking midfielder known for the quality of his passing and his free kicks, Panenka played for Bohemians Prague for most of his career, joining the club as a youth in 1959. He came to international prominence playing for Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship; Czechoslovakia reached the final, where they faced West Germany. After extra time, the result was 2-2, and so the first penalty shootout in a European Championships final ensued. All the kicks were converted, until West Germany's fourth penalty taker, Uli Hoeness, ballooned his shot over the bar. With the score 4-3, Panenka stepped up to take the fifth and final Czechoslovakian penalty, to win the match. Despite the immense pressure, he fooled German goalkeeper Sepp Maier into diving for a save, before coolly chipping the ball straight down the middle and into the net. The sheer cheek of the goal led a watching French journalist to dub Panenka "a poet", and to this day his winning kick is the most famous ever.
As well as winning the 1976 European Championship, Panenka helped Czechoslovakia come third in the 1980 tournament, and qualify for the finals of the 1982 World Cup; Panenka scored twice, but his team failed to progress beyond the first group stage.
In 1981 Panenka left Bohemians for Austrian club Rapid Vienna, where he won two Bundesliga titles and an Austrian Cup. In 1985 Rapid reached the Cup Winners' Cup final; Panenka played as a substitute, but his side lost 3-1 to Everton. Later that year Panenka moved to VSE St. Pölten, and played two more seasons there before retiring; today he works as a coach for Bohemians Prague.
The same shot that Panenka used in 1976 is still successfully used by other players, even in the highest competitions. Whenever a player kicks a penalty using the same style it is dubbed a "Panenka kick". Hélder Postiga from Portugal scored in Euro 2004 against England with a similar shot. French captain Zinedine Zidane at the 2006 World Cup final between France and Italy also shot "Panenka" style but to the right side, instead of down the middle. He scored at 7' the first goal of the game against Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
[edit] External links
- Antonín Panenka and his famous goal - photos
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Czechoslovakia squad - 1982 FIFA World Cup | |
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1 Seman | 2 Jakubec | 3 Fiala | 4 Jurkemik | 5 Barmoš | 6 Vojáček | 7 Kozák | 8 Panenka | 9 Vízek | 10 Kříž | 11 Nehoda | 12 Bičovský | 13 Berger | 14 Radimec | 15 Kukučka | 16 Chaloupka | 17 Štambachr | 18 Janečka | 19 Masný | 20 Petržela | 21 Hruška | 22 Stromsík | Coach Jozef Vengloš |
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