Friday Flashback Once upon a time there was a great player from Czechoslovakia. In 1976 he led his nation to the final of the European Championships to play against the World Champions Germany. After a fiercely contested match, it came down to penalties. With a stroke of luck the Czechs had a chance to win the game on the last kick. Guess who was taking it? With a country’s hope hope weighing on his shoulders that walk to the penalty spot must have seemed like an eternity. If he scored, he would go down in the folklore of the sport in Czechoslovakia. If he missed and the team lost, he would be forever be remembered as a villain. It’s the sort of pressure that has crushed many before him and would crush many him. Then he went and did the above. It was the first time anyone had taken a penalty that way. Pressure? What pressure? So this man, Antonin Panenka, went down in history for his coolness in the most tense of situations. From that day onward, anytime a penalty was taken in that manner, it was called a panenka. Take a bow Antonin. Now that’s cojones. P.S. On a historical note, that was the last time Germany lost a penalty shootout.
