On June 20 1976, Czechoslovakia midfielder Antonin Panenka won the European Championship for his nation in outrageous fashion. After holding world champions Germany to a 2-2 draw in Belgrade, Czechoslovakia found themselves leading the penalty shootout 4-3 with one spot kick to be taken. Panenka stepped up to take the all-important kick and instead of choosing an angle to dispatch the ball, the Czech number 7 amazingly dinked the ball over the great Sepp Maier, who was completely outplayed. The extraordinary winner became a cult and Panenka's name has always been attached to this incredible penalty style. Simple recipe "I chose the penalty because I saw and realized it was the easiest and simplest recipe for scoring a goal. It is a simple recipe," said Panenka about his phenomenal penalty style. "About two years before the European Championships I began trying it. At first I did it during friendly matches and then I did it once or twice during Czechoslovak league matches. "It worked so well that I decided that I would use the technique if I got a penalty at the European Championships. "Of course, it was pure chance that the opportunity came in the final after the Germans equalized in the last minute and then, when it went to penalties, the German player missed his kick before it was my turn. "It was like the will of God. I was one thousand percent certain that I would take the penalty in that way and that I would score." The Panenka Some famous Panenkas! Zinedine Zidane in 2006 World Cup final Sao Paolo legend Rogerio Ceni in Brazilian league Totti in Euro 2000 semi-final
