PRAGUE – He was forever inscribed in football history mainly thanks to the originally kicked and at the same time decisive eleven in the final of the European Championships in Belgrade in 1976. Former Czechoslovak football representative Antonín Panenka is 75 years old today – December 2.
“For me, one thing is important, that what I liked, football, which was my hobby and what I had fun with, became my profession. I don’t think many people will experience that. I had no idea that someday I would make a living from football. I consider that to be the greatest top in my life. Then, of course, it was sports achievements. It was Belgrade, but I highly value the fact that I played several times in my life with the world and European selection with the best players of the time, such as Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer, Lev Ivanovič Jašin, Johan Cruijff. I had the opportunity to be in the cabin with such players and experience the atmosphere. That was wonderful.” the jubilant Panenka declared for TASR.
Only last week, the golden Czechoslovak boys from the Belgrade final met together. “The participation was incredibly good, Jozef Móder and Zdeněk Nehoda were absent. Otherwise, there were all those who experienced it and live. Even Marián Masný (Béla) came. It was a beautiful meeting, where we all reminisced, talked, criticized football a little, cried, and drank, and it was pleasant. I always take it as Slovakia and Slovaks are not a foreign country, they are the same friends as they were before.” revealed TASR Panenka.
Panenka was born on December 2, 1948 in Prague. He belonged to Bohemians Praha (today Bohemians Praha 1905), whose green and white jersey he wore from his school years. He joined the senior first league pitches for the Prague “kangaroos” in the 19th century. He defended the colors of the parent club in the highest football competition of the then Czechoslovakia in the years 1967-1981 and scored 76 goals as a midfielder.
Panenka did not stand out for fighting or speed, but above all for his excellent kicking technique. Also thanks to these advantages, in the years 1973-1982 he was one of the mainstays of the Czechoslovak national team, with which he won the European title at the European Championship in the former Yugoslavia in 1976 and a bronze medal at the European Championship in Italy in 1980. He was one of the mainstays of the Czechoslovak national team at the World Championship (WC) in Spain in 1982. In total, he played 59 matches in the national team and scored 17 goals.
In the unforgettable final in Belgrade, the selection of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (CSSR), loaded mainly with players from Bratislava Slovan, faced the strong representation of the then West German Federal Republic (NSR). After a draw of 2:2 and a goalless overtime, the Belgrade final went to a shootout. By the eighth attempt, all actors have transformed the elevens. German Ulli Hoeness was the first to hesitate, followed by Bohemians Praha gunner Antonín Panenka. He beat the helpless and obviously shocked goalkeeper Sepp Maier with his shot into the middle of the goal. Czechoslovakia enjoyed the title of European champions. The captain of the NSR national team legend Franz Beckenbauer no longer had to kick.
The next day, the world’s media were scrambling to name Panenko’s way of executing the penalty. Most often, the kick was compared to a falling leaf. Czech journalists spoke of “Vršovice dlobák”, because Panenka was one of the mainstays of Vrsovice Bohemians at that time. The French media, in turn, called Panenka a football poet. Thanks to the Belgrade eleven, the Spanish football magazine Panenka is named after the legend of Czech football.
The legendary executor of the Belgrade final eleven left an unforgettable mark in Austria as well. In the years 1981-1985, he played for the renowned Rapid Vienna. With the famous Austrian club, he won two league titles in the highest Austrian football competition, and in 1985 he made it all the way to the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup (PVP). In it, however, the Viennese lost 1:3 to England’s Everton.
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Antonín Panenka (Source: profimedia.sk)
Panenka remembers this period very fondly. “I see my work at Rapid Vienna, where I was for four and a half years, as the most beautiful period of my life. Not only football, but also family. We were often together, which was not possible in the Czech Republic. In addition, it was conditioned by the fact that in the space of four and a half years I won the title twice, we won the Austrian Cup three times and we reached the final of the European Cup. So in terms of sporting success, it was incredibly good.” emphasized Panenka for TASR.
In the 1983/84 season, Panenka was the top league scorer of Rapid Vienna, for which he played a total of 127 duels and scored 63 goals. He closed his Austrian player chapter in the then second-league clubs VSE St. Pölten (1985–1987), SK Slovan Wien (1987–1989) or ASV Hohenau (1989–1991).
After returning to his homeland, he worked for several years as an assistant coach and official of Bohemians Prague. He currently holds the post of honorary president of Bohemians Praha 1905. “I am still in office, but as an honorary president. I don’t do day-to-day work, I don’t make decisions about financial transactions, players, etc. There are people for all of that. My role is of a representative nature, which means cooperation with our partners, sponsors, where they use our players as part of their corporate events, etc. It is a non-working function, but rather a representational one,” clarified TASR about his current role Panenka.
In 2008, he was awarded the Václav Jíra Award. It is awarded to personalities who have contributed significantly to the development of Czech football. He is also a recipient of the Czech state award – Medal for Merit, 1st degree, which was awarded to him in 2008 by the then Czech President Václav Klaus.
On the YouTube platform, Panenko’s famous kick of the eleven in Belgrade has so far received millions of views. Since then, hundreds of footballers from all over the world, including legends, have tried and are trying, whether successfully or unsuccessfully, to imitate the Panenka eleven.
2023-12-01 23:01:00
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