Memorable moments: Panenka’s long shot that decided the European title

It was 1976 and Czechoslovakia was playing West Germany in the final of the European Championship. The match came down to penalty kicks, which could have been decided by Antonín Panenka. The way he dealt with his attempt has gone down indelibly in football history.

Czechoslovakia was in a very good mood at the 1976 European Championship. It had to go through a very difficult qualification, leaving Portugal and England behind, in addition to Cyprus, and then defeating the Soviet Union in the quarter-finals.

In the system of the time, this meant qualification for the final tournament, which involved four national teams. Czechoslovakia also succeeded in the semi-finals, beating the Netherlands 3-1 after extra time, and could now prepare for the tournament’s highlight against West Germany.

The start of the final was like a fairy tale for the Czechoslovak national team. Already in the 25th minute they led 2:0 after goals by Švehlik and Dobiáš, but West Germany did not give up and managed to level the score before the end of the match. The European title had to be decided by penalty kicks.

The first seven scorers made no mistakes from the penalty kick mark until Hoennes scored at the end of the fourth series. Antonín Panenka could have brought the European title to Czechoslovakia.

Panenka kept his nerves in check during his attempt and performed a stunt he had practised before the decisive match. He kicked the ball slightly and sent it through the arch into the middle of the net. And when goalkeeper Maier decided to jump to the side, the Czechoslovakian national team could celebrate the title.

Antonín Panenka kept his intentions secret before the game. He only confided his plan to use the unusual style of kick to goalkeeper Ivo Viktor, with whom he was sharing a hotel room. He discouraged him from doing so, fearing a possible failure. Nevertheless, Panenka used his now typical long kick during the penalty shootout and was successful.

According to his own words, Panenka had been practicing this style of kick for two years. He used it twice in matches before the European Championship, once in the league in the Dukla jersey and then in a national team match in Egypt.

Today, Panenka’s long kick is known to most fans around the world. Even today, the biggest stars, such as Lionel Messi, Andrea Pirlo, Zinédine Zidane and Eden Hazard, try to imitate this style of kick. But not all of them succeed in their attempt, which is a testament to the difficulty of the technical execution. The shooter also needs to be very mentally resilient.

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