The best known player in the history of Bohemians, the former midfielder and current president of Bohemians 1905 Antonín Panenka, was well known during his playing days for his high quality passes and his free kicks. However, he will be forever remembered as the player who introduced his famous penalty chip shot to international audiences.
This is how Wikipedia described his penalty kick in the finals of Euro 1976:
“He came to international prominence playing for Czechoslovakia the 1976 European Championship; Czechoslovakia reached the final, where they faced West Germany. After extra time, the result was 2-2, and so the first penalty shootout in a European Championships final ensued. All the kicks were converted, until West Germany's fourth penalty taker, Uli Hoeness, ballooned his shot over the bar. With the score 4-3, Panenka stepped up to take the fifth and final Czechoslovakian penalty, to win the match. Despite the immense pressure, he fooled German goalkeeper Sepp Maier into diving for a save, before coolly chipping the ball straight down the middle and into the net. The sheer cheek of the goal led a watching French journalist to dub Panenka "a poet", and to this day his winning kick is the most famous ever.
The same shot that Panenka used in 1976 is still successfully used by other players, even in the highest competitions. Whenever a player kicks a penalty using the same style it is dubbed a ‘Panenka kick’.”
When you mention to Panenka how many other players use “his” kick, he laughs it off, saying: “I should have applied for a patent for this kick.”
You can see this football history making shot here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j14nkzTgNYk
As a footnote - when all the excitement after winning the Euro 1976 subsided, some Czechoslovak football experts criticized Panenka for using this “risky” shot when everything was on the line. Unbeknownst to them, Panenka had practiced this shot for many years prior to the Euro 1976, both in league matches, but especially in friendlies, away from the limelight. He had perfected his shot to the point where he felt that it was the penalty shot with the highest probability of success.
Accoring to Tonda (as Panenka is affectinately called by his admirers and fans), he failed to score only once using his famous penalty chip shot; it was in a friendly match against an amateur team. The match was being played after a torrential downpour and when Panenka decided to execute his penalty chip shot, the goalie attempted a dive. However, he slipped and fell. Ending up on his backside, he made an unlikely (and the only) save on this shot against Panenka.
