Panenka – The Best and The Worst Attempts in Football

Panenka penalties are coming back into fashion – even former pros are trying and failing during Sunday League matches! The difference between scoring, or fluffing a panenka penalty is the brutal difference between going down in football history as a legend, or just another arrogant wally. It’s a fickle game, so you must make sure your technique matches your confidence – as we’re about to prove here.

This is Romario Balde, a Benfica youth player who has just learned precisely how not to take a penalty, he may have Romario in his name but it looks as though that is where the similarity ends. Benfica youth were leading 1-0 in their game against Shatkhtar when the penalty was given and young Romario stepped up with an idea to embarrass the opposition keeper, it back fired, horrendously.

As you’ll see in the video, the keeper had time to dive both ways before casually picking up the ball that barely even reached the goal line, hell he probably had time to call his mates and tell them how bad the penalty was that he was facing. We think that Balde is attempting to blow the ball in as soon as he realised it might not make it but no man can conjure up that amount of air from his lungs and his embarrassment was cemented.

It’s a tricky thing the Panenka, done well it can be both embarrassing for the keeper and gain you a goal, surely the definition of a perfect goal, a goal laden with shame, but done poorly and well you end up looking like poor Romario here. Here some examples of how to nail it:

Zizou does the Panenka on the World’s biggest stage, against one of the best keepers of all time

Pirlo making Joe Hart look like a little boy

Panenka Andrea Pirlo Penalty (Italy vs England) Euro 2012 from TonyMontana on Vimeo.

And of course, the original by Antonin Panenka who’s audacious penalty knocked West Germany out of the Euro’s

Share you best and worst panenka efforts below.

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