Panenka (penalty kick)

In association football, the panenka is a technique used while taking a penalty kick in which the taker, instead of kicking the ball to the left or right of the goalkeeper, gives a light touch underneath the ball, causing it to rise and fall within the centre of the goal, deceiving the goalkeeper who will most likely have committed to a dive away from the centre.[1]

The technique was pioneered by Czech player Antonín Panenka, who scored a decisive penalty in the UEFA Euro 1976 final in Belgrade, when he beat West German goalkeeper Sepp Maier to claim the title for the Czechoslovakia national team.[2][3] The technique garnered Panenka much media attention and praise, but it was likewise deemed risky. Due to it being difficult to execute correctly and relatively easy to save for the goalkeeper if anticipated, a panenka has rarely been attempted at professional knock-out tournaments. Sports journalists have noted that generally only highly regarded players who can deal with the consequences of missing such an attempt, have tried scoring with a panenka at major tournaments.[4][5]

Originally, the Czech name for panenka was Vršovický dloubák — a reference to the Prague district of Vršovice, where Panenka's home club Bohemians is based. This style of penalty kick is also called Il cucchiaio ("the spoon") in Italy,[6] cavadinha ("little dig") in Brazil and penal picado ("poked penalty kick") in Argentina and elsewhere in South America.[7]

  1. ^ "Antonin Panenka: The Euro 1976 penalty that killed a career and birthed a feud". BBC Sport. 27 June 2024.
  2. ^ "The footballers who have moves named after them". TheGuardian.com. 31 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  3. ^ "Antonin Panenka - the footballer Pele described as "either a genius or a madman"". 20 June 2007. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Euro 2012: Pirlo's courage to kick a penalty like Panenka helped Italy's 4-2 win over England". The Star. 25 June 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Andrea Pirlo explains THAT Panenka penalty which bamboozled Joe Hart at Euro 2012". The Mirror. 15 April 2014. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Il rigore di Panenka" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Archived from the original on 21 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  7. ^ "¿Cómo nació el penal picado a lo Panenka?". Pasión Fútbol. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.