Where, and when did Antonin Panenka score his signature penalty?

In his heyday, Antonin Panenka was an attacking playmaker renowned for the quality of his passing, free kicks and goals, of which he scored 17 goals in 59 games for his native Czechoslovakia. However, for the last five decades or so, any mention of the name ‘Panenka’ has inevitably led to thoughts of the signature penalty that he scored in the final of the UEFA European Football Championship in 1976.

Ironically, the final, between West Germany and Czechoslovakia played at Stadion Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, on June 20, 1976 was originally destined to go to a replay, two days later, if the scores remained level after extra time. However, at the behest of the German Football Association, an immediate penalty shootout was introduced at the last minute and the rest, as they say, is history.

A last-minute equaliser from West German winger Bernd Hölzenbein levelled the scores 2-2 and to took the game into extra time. With the deadlock still unbroken after 120 minutes, penalties followed and, ahead with Czechoslovakia leading 4-3, Panenka had the chance to win the match for the rank underdogs.

In an apparently well-rehearsed, but hitherto unnoticed, move, Panenka took a long, fast, uninterrupted run-up but, rather than whacking the ball with his instep, side-footed what was later described as a “falling leaf” chip into the centre of the goal. Goalkeeper Josef Dieter “Sepp” Maier (one of the finest custodians in the history of the game) dived away to his left, to no avail, and Panenka wheeled away, arms aloft, to celebrate his “genius” moment and a 5-3 victory for Czechoslovakia.