Panenka: How the world’s most famous penalty kick came about

The Panenka penalty, named after Czech footballer Antonín Panenka, became famous during the 1976 European Championship final.

The match between Czechoslovakia and West Germany was tied 2-2 and was heading for a penalty shootout. With the championship on the line, Panenka stepped up to take the crucial fifth penalty for Czechoslovakia.

Instead of kicking the ball hard, Panenka gently chipped it over the outstretched arms of West Germany’s goalkeeper, Sepp Maier. The ball floated into the net, winning the match for Czechoslovakia. Panenka's clever move became an instant legend, forever remembered in football history.

However, the final wasn’t supposed to go to penalties.

West Germany, the defending European champions and World Cup winners, were strong favourites.

If Czechoslovakia had survived extra time, the original plan was to have a replay two days later. Welsh referee Clive Thomas had even been told to delay his return home from the host nation, Yugoslavia, in case a replay was needed.

But just hours before the match, the plan changed.

Panenka explained to BBC Sport:

It was a request from the German Football Association. They said that their players had already booked some holidays, blah, blah, blah, and asked if penalties could be taken straight away instead of a replay.

Czechoslovakia, seeing themselves as underdogs, thought they were more likely to win in a shootout than in a second match, so they agreed.

Panenka’s famous penalty didn’t come out of nowhere. He had been practising it for at least two years before the 1976 European Championship final.

Back home, after training with his Prague club, Bohemians, Panenka would stay behind to practise penalties with goalkeeper Zdenek Hruska.

It was a personal challenge. Panenka would take five penalties, needing to score all five, while Hruska only needed to save one. The loser would buy the post-training beer or chocolate.

Over time, Panenka tested his move in bigger and bigger matches: first in training, then in friendlies, and finally, the month before Euro 1976, in a competitive game against local rivals Dukla Prague.

Each time, it worked, and his confidence grew.

Panenka: The Western surprise

Although the Panenka penalty was gaining popularity in Czechoslovakia, it was still largely unknown in the West.

Panenka told BBC Sport:

I made no secret of it. Here [in Czechoslovakia] people were well aware of it. But in Western countries, in top football countries, nobody was interested in Czechoslovak football at all. Maybe they kept up with some results, but they didn’t watch our games.

So, when it was his turn to take the decisive penalty in the final, Panenka chose to use the trick he had been practising for years. He ran slowly, then clipped the ball as it floated toward the centre of the goal.

Panenka was already celebrating before the ball even hit the net.

And that’s how the world’s most famous penalty, the Panenka, was born.