1976: Panenka's perfect penalty
Saturday, August 3, 2002
Article summary
The UEFA European Championship finals were held in Yugoslavia in 1976, with Czechoslovakia emerging as winners.
Article body
The UEFA European Championship finals were held in Yugoslavia in 1976, with Czechoslovakia emerging as winners.
German fightback
Ten-man Czechoslovakia proved too strong for the nine-man Netherlands in a tempestuous 3-1 win in the first semi-final. The Federal Republic of Germany, 2-0 down at half time, fought back to equalise and win 4-2 in extra time in their semi-final against the hosts.
Czechs succeed
In the final, Czechoslovaks went two goals up early on, but once again the Germans fought back to equalise in the second half. Extra time came and went with no further scoring, and the match had to be decided on penalties. The Czechs led 4-3 after seven consecutive successful kicks; then Uli Hoeness put his kick over the bar. Antonín Panenka, under immense pressure, stepped up to take one of the coolest penalties ever, chipping the ball delicately into the space vacated by Sepp Maier’s anticipatory dive, and Czechoslovakia lifted the trophy.
