Former Czech football player Antonín Panenka is in a critical condition in the intensive care unit of a hospital in his home country. His former club Bohemians 1905 has announced this. Panenka has been hit hard by the corona virus.
Panenka’s name is world famous for his penalty kick technique, which he showed in the 1976 European Championship final against Germany to the astonishment of the football world.
Sepp Maier
The midfielder ‘scooped’ the ball after a long run with a subtle arc through the middle while the German goalkeeper Sepp Maier desperately dived into the left corner. With that, Czechoslovakia became European champion and his ball became the most famous penalty in the world.
Since then this form of penalty taking has been called a ‘Panenka’. Many top players have taken one or more penalties this way over time.
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