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Definition

Panenka

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A penalty where the ball is calmly and softly chipped down the middle, gambling that the keeper will dive to one side or the other. The 'Panenka' is named after Antonín Panenka, who famously won the 1976 European Championship final with exactly this trick, playing for Czechoslovakia against West Germany. You need nerves of steel to try a Panenka. Get it right, and you look like an ice cold genius, get it wrong and you can look like an egotistical idiot who cost your team the game.

Andrea Pirlo's Panenka against England in the Euro 2012 quarter-final was ice-cold - he chipped it straight down the middle while Joe Hart dived helplessly to his right, epitomising the Italian's composure.

The Fan
The Fan Jan 30, 2026
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