Antonín Panenka (born 2 December 1948) is a Czech former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He spent most of his career at Czechoslovak club Bohemians Prague before having spells with various Austrian clubs including Rapid Wien. Panenka won

UEFA Euro 1976 The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA and the first and only tournament that was held in a socialist state. The ...

with

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and gained recognition for his winning penalty kick in the shoot-out of the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

where he scored with a softly-chipped ball up the middle of the goal as the goalkeeper dived away. This style of penalty is now known as a '' panenka''. In 1980, he won Czechoslovak Footballer of the Year and his team finished third at Euro 1980.

Club career

An attacking

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

known for the quality of his passing and his free kicks, Panenka played for Bohemians Prague for most of his career, joining the club in 1967. He was named

Czechoslovak Footballer of the Year The Czechoslovak Player of the Year (, ) award was an annual prize given to the best Czechoslovak football player by the Czechoslovak Football Association since 1965. Award for coach of the year was also awarded since 1985. Winners References ...

in 1980. In 1981, Panenka left Bohemians for Austrian club Rapid Wien, where he won two

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

titles and an Austrian Cup. In 1985, Rapid reached the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

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 before moving into the lower leagues in Austria, playing from 1987 to 1989 for Slovan Vienna, from 1989 to 1991 for ASV Hohenau and from 1991 to 1993 for Kleinwiesendorf.

Panenka penalty

Panenka came to international prominence playing for

, where his country reached the final, facing

. After

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, the match finished 2–2, and so the first

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

in a European Championship final ensued. The first seven 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 Czechoslovak penalty, to win the match under immense pressure. He feigned shooting to the side of the goal, causing German

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Sepp Maier to dive to his left, and then gently chipped the ball into the middle of the net. The sheer cheek of the goal led a watching French journalist to dub Panenka "a poet"; his winning kick is one of the most famous ever, making Panenka's name synonymous with that particular style of penalty kick. Since 1976 there have been numerous attempts to emulate Panenka, both successfully and others unsuccessfully, at every level of the sporting pyramid across the world, including in critical match winning moments such as international cup finals.

Post-playing career

Following his career, Panenka worked as a president at former club Bohemians 1905. On 7 October 2020, the club confirmed that Panenka had been admitted to hospital and was in intensive care after testing positive for the novel coronavirus. By mid-October, Panenka's condition had improved and he was discharged to continue his recovery at home.

Career Statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Czechoslovakia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Panenka goal.''

Honours

Rapid Wien *

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

: 1981–82, 1982–83 * Austrian Cup: 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85 Czechoslovakia *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

Individual * UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament:

: 1980 * ADN Eastern European Footballer of the Season: 1980 * European Cup Winners' Cup Top Scorer: 1984–85 * Golden Foot Legends Award: 2014

References

External links

*
Antonín Panenka and his famous goal
– photos * – video
Antonín Panenka
with presidential nominee Jiří Dienstbier in Talk show Czech TV 8 November 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Panenka, Antonin 1948 births Living people Footballers from Prague Czech men's footballers Czechoslovak men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Bohemians 1905 players SK Rapid Wien players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Czechoslovakia men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1976 players UEFA Euro 1980 players 1982 FIFA World Cup players UEFA European Championship–winning players Czechoslovak expatriate men's footballers Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)