A strapping figure with a moustache and roguish smile, Antonin Panenka was dubbed the "poet" by a French journalist for the courageous and beautiful way in which he converted a deciding penalty in the final of the 1976 European Championships in Belgrade.
Following a final score of 2-2, both sets of players from Czechoslovakia and West Germany went about their penalty shoot-out duties in impeccable fashion, until the fourth round of attempts at which Uli Hoeness missed.
Up stepped Panenka, but instead of blasting the ball into the back of the net, as it appeared he might do, he coolly feigned and tapped the ball straight in the middle of the goal, leaving German goalkeeper Sepp Maier stranded helpless on the ground. Replays of this audacious and decisive goal were repeated on television around the world.
Falls ich nicht der einzige Ignorant bin: Video.
später diese legendären rapid-spiele, bei denen panenka die meiste zeit über bloß herumstand und niemand ihm das je übel nahm. der freistoß aus 30 metern kam schon noch, bei dem er zum ballistiker werden konnte. am schönsten waren die tore, die er aus dem stand schoss, ohne anlauf.