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Antonin Panenka laughs for illustration a carnivore might, a debased rumble, suggesting mischief among nan memories. He is sat successful an agency astatine Bohemians shot nine successful Prague, recounting nan communicative of his impudent, revolutionary penalty that not only won nan 1976 European Championship for Czechoslovakia against West Germany but soured his narration pinch nan goalkeeper his spot-kick humiliated, Sepp Maier. “He went 35 years without uttering a azygous connection to me,” he smiles.
But nan feud went overmuch deeper. “I publication immoderate articles that he moreover had a shooting target successful his car shed pinch my look connected it that he utilized to occurrence darts at. We get connected good capable now though.”
Saturday marks 50 years since that infinitesimal successful Belgrade’s Red Star Stadium slipped into shot folklore. With nan last locked astatine 2-2 aft other time, Czechoslovakia and nan reigning world champions recovered themselves successful uncharted territory: nan first punishment shootout to determine a awesome world tournament.
It astir didn’t hap astatine all. The scheme had been for a replay, until a petition from nan German FA pushed organisers towards penalties, a determination influenced, Panenka believes, by nan truth Die Mannschaft had already booked their holidays.
By nan clip Bayern Munich’s Uli Hoeness blazed Germany’s 4th footwear complete nan bar, nan shape was set. Panenka stepped guardant pinch nan chance to triumph it. Then it happened. A brisk run-up, a momentary region and the astir delicate of stabbed touches. The shot floated, dormant centre, arsenic Maier hurled himself aside. For a heartbeat, it seemed to bent successful nan Belgrade aerial earlier dropping into nan net. The Panenka was born.
In nan decades since, galore person tried it and succeeded. Zinedine Zidane clipped his against nan crossbar and successful astatine nan 2006 World Cup last while Andrea Pirlo embarrassed a gurning Joe Hart astatine Euro 2012. Others person been little successful.
In 1992, Gary Lineker, 1 extremity distant from equalling Bobby Charlton’s grounds of 49 goals for England, duffed his against Brazil astatine Wembley. More recently, Morocco’s Brahim Díaz dinked his punishment into nan waiting arms of nan Senegal keeper Édouard Mendy successful nan Africa Cup of Nations final.
Panenka watches them each pinch pridefulness and amusement. “It’s axenic happiness to spot these players utilizing my penalty,” he says. “The only disadvantage is that I don’t get immoderate royalties from it.”
It’s not for want of trying. “I utilized to deliberation that each clip personification takes one, they should person to salary me. Actually, backmost during nan Communist days successful Czechoslovakia, I said to immoderate friends who worked astatine a patent agency and tried to get it registered but they said it wasn’t imaginable which was a shame.”
Panenka’s punishment successful nan last wasn’t nan first clip he tried it. Two years earlier Belgrade, Panenka, a imaginative midfielder pinch Bohemians 1905, had started a friends punishment title pinch nine goalkeeper, Zdenek Hruska.
Each day, nan brace would enactment down aft training and practise penalties. Ever nan competitor, Panenka suggested a bet. He would return penalties and if he scored each 5 past Hruska would person to bargain him immoderate beers aliases immoderate chocolate. If nan keeper saved conscionable 1 past Panenka would return nan favour. But Panenka recovered himself losing severely and progressively retired of pocket.
Then came his brainwave. “I started to deliberation astir really nan goalies ever thin to dive towards 1 station aliases nan different and I came up pinch nan thought of conscionable chipping nan shot correct down nan mediate instead. And it worked immediately,” he recalls.
Soon, nan title pinch Hruska tilted successful Panenka’s favour. “I started winning our bets each nan clip which meant that I sewage each nan beers and nan chocolate. But that besides meant I started to get fat.”
While Panenka attempted his punishment occasionally successful friendlies and home games, it was still chartless extracurricular Czechoslovakia arsenic they headed into nan European Championship successful Yugoslavia, and that convinced Panenka to return it connected to nan world stage.
“I ever knew that location was only 1 measurement I was ever going to return it, purely because cipher had done it earlier and cipher would ever deliberation I would do it, particularly successful a final,” he says. “But I wasn’t 100% assured I would people – I was 1,000% confident.”
For Panenka, his punishment is much than conscionable different opportunity to score. On 1 hand, he says, you person to person nan characteristic to travel up pinch nan original thought itself but power and activity ethic is besides needed to guarantee having nan correct method erstwhile nan clip arrives to return nan penalty. “You can’t person 1 without nan other,” he says.
Watch footage of Panenka’s punishment now and it’s dissimilar galore of nan versions you mightiness spot today. There is nary theatrical meandering run-up and nary staring down of nan goalkeeper. It’s conscionable a straight, fierce run-up that persuades Maier that what is astir to travel is simply a changeable struck pinch pace. Only astatine nan past infinitesimal does Panenka termination his run-up, floating nan shot into nan aerial and leaving Maier diving helplessly to his near arsenic nan shot takes an eternity to drift and dive into nan net.
It is, says Panenka, a point of uncommon beauty. “I person seen it described arsenic nan ‘falling leaf’ punishment and I for illustration that,” he reflects. “It useful truthful beautifully.”
After nan final, Panenka and his Czech teammates returned location to thing but a heroes’ welcome. “We expected astatine slightest immoderate ceremony aliases nickname but location was very little,” he recalls. “We said: ‘We are European champions!’ And they said: ‘So what? The convention starts again tomorrow, truthful get backmost to work.’”
As Panenka returned to home shot pinch Bohemians, however, his pioneering punishment had now go a limb to employment sparingly. After Belgrade, he estimates he took different 15 penalties successful his playing career, but utilized nan Panenka only 3 much times, astir notably successful a European Championship qualifying triumph complete France successful Bratislava successful April 1979.
“The only clip I ever missed was successful a friends against a mini nine successful confederate Bohemia. There had been a batch of dense rainfall and nan goalie was conscionable stood successful a large puddle truthful I don’t deliberation he really wanted to dive anyway,” he recalls. “He conscionable stood location and caught it.”
Today, nan 77-year-old Panenka and his punishment are known crossed nan world, nan result, he believes, of parents passing connected this unsocial portion of footballing vocabulary – noun and verb – done YouTube and societal media. But his fame still surprises him.
Recently, he was connected a level successful Madrid waiting to return disconnected erstwhile different rider recognised him. “Suddenly location was this agelong concatenation of group each wanting a selfie pinch me,” he smiles. “Our formation was moreover delayed.”
It’s imaginable to count connected 1 manus those players whose names person go shorthand for invention, for a infinitesimal that bends nan logic of nan crippled itself. Some labels flatter, others fade, but nan Panenka endures alongside nan Cruyff Turn arsenic thing some daring and definitive.
Panenka shrugs astatine nan thought of an mean alternative. Yes, a much accepted spot-kick mightiness still person delivered a European title for Czechoslovakia, but it would not person rewritten his life, nor carved his sanction into shot history.
Half a period on, what lingers is not conscionable his badge aliases nan trophy, but that prime – a split-second show of nervus that turned consequence into immortality, and a footballer into folklore.
“The punishment I took really changed my life and nan truth I’m still present 50 years later talking astir it is perfectly amazing,” he adds. “I’m truthful happy I did it.”
