the day Panenka finally crosses the Iron Curtain

"Le Monde" after Michel Barrault / Icon Sport

By

Posted today at 6:00 a.m., updated at 7:19 a.m.

Heads or tails? Eight years after the strange Italian qualification for the Euro 1968 final, entrusted to the providence of a coin fallen on the right side, Czechoslovakia and the Federal Republic of Germany are preparing to rely on a another lottery in the final of the Yugoslav edition of 1976.

Tied, two goals everywhere, after extra time, the title of European champion is played at the Marakana in Belgrade, in a penalty shootout, the first in the history of a great international final. Antonin Panenka chooses this moment to leave his name to posterity with the help of a gesture perfected in training for several years by betting on beers and chocolate with his goalkeeper, away from the iron curtain.

The artist’s inspiration is nocturnal. " One night in my bed, I thought about how to surprise him. I could see that the power of the shooting forced the goalkeeper to choose a side. I figured he would be clueless if the ball went slowly through the center of the goal. The trap worked and I got fat with the beers and chocolates. "

Antonin Panenka, June 20, 1976, in Belgrade.

In 1976, his "panenka", a sort of dead leaf placed in the middle of the goal, is not yet namesake. He has experienced it in championship matches and even in some selection preparation matches. The specialty of Czechoslovakia is called – more for a long time – "the flicker of Vrsovice", in reference to the district where his club always evolves, the Bohemians Prague.

On June 20, the Czechoslovaks led by two goals, but the West German world champions returned to the score. And before the penalty shootout, which is not yet ten years old – the first round of the 1970 European Cup Winners' Cup between Honved and Aberdeen was the first international meeting to decide this way -, no one imagine Captain Franz Beckenbauer and his prestigious teammates Dieter Müller, Uli Hoeness or Sepp Maier getting off their pedestal.

The gesture of "a madman or a genius"

Nobody, until the madness of a funny mustache. After the attempt sent into the clouds by Hoeness, Panenka appeared in last decisive position against goalkeeper Maier. In 2016, the penalty taker told the World his fantasy: "The slower it goes, the more enjoyable it is because we have time to watch its race. In Czechoslovakia, we made fun of the stupid Maier, but my intention was not to humiliate him, just to transform this penalty. We've met since, on several occasions. The first time, he was not happy to see me again. "

The technical gesture surprises the whole world, up to King Pelé, who speaks of its author as "Of a madman or a genius". The main interested party, who likes to play with his legend, amused himself, forty years later, with the World : "Probably a bit of both. I don't know why, but I had managed to be the last of the five shooters. I was sure of my shot. Obviously, if Maier had not moved, I would have gone to the factory the next day… At home, we mentioned, for the absurd side, “The Brave Soldier Chveik”, the picaresque novel by Jaroslav Hasek and his eponymous character , emblematic of the local burlesque. "

Also read: We found… Antonin Panenka, Czech roulette

When asked about his creature, the writer Hasek perceived his posterity: "I will not die until I give Chveik permission to die. And I will not give it to him because Chveik will live forever among the Czechs. " The creation of Antonin Panenka gives its author a similar destiny. The Czechs, but also football fans, are not going to forget his surname.

Find our selection of matches that marked the Euro

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here