Antonín Panenka Profile



Antonín Panenka - Career

The most famous famous penalty taker of all time, the man who has one of the most famous football phrases named after him, Antonín Panenka. And rightly so too, because not only did Panenka do one of the cheekiest penalties ever, he did it in the most extreme of circumstances... It was the final of the 1976 European Championships, Panenka's Czechoslovakia against the reigning World Champions, West Germany. The 90 minutes had finished 2:2 after Bernd Hölzenbein had broke Czech hearts with a last gasp equaliser. They'd gone through 30 minutes of extra-time and the scores were still level. So now they were into a penalty shoot-out. The Czech's had scored all four of their penalties, but German forward Uli Hoeness had just missed, so Panenka stepped up to face Sepp Maier knowing that if he scored then his country would claim their first ever international title. With a long run up, starting from outside the penalty area, everyone expected the attacking midfielder to try and lash his shot into one of the corners, yet Panenka just clipped the ball gently down the middle as Maier dived to the left. As Panenka raced off to celebrate the viewing public were left to marvel at the sheer audacity and balls of steel that he'd shown to attempt such a risky thing in such an important moment. Nearly fifty years on, it remains one of the most iconic moments of football drama, ever.



Antonín Panenka - Career in Brief


CLUBS

Years Club
1967-81 Bohemians Praha	crest Bohemians Praha
1981-85 Rapid Vienna Rapid Vienna
1985-87 VSE St. Pölten crest St. Pölten
1987-89 SK Slovan Wien crest Slovan Wien


NATIONAL TEAM

Team Czechoslovakia
Debut 1973
Last Match 1982
Caps 59
Goals 17



Antonín Panenka - Playing Style



Antonín Panenka - Honours


NATIONAL TEAM

Honour Year
The Euros Winners 1976