You will hear the word Panenka when a player dinks or lightly chips the ball over the goalkeeper from the penalty spot. This style of taking a penalty is a risky one as the player taking the penalty does not use a lot of power and hopes that the keeper dives to the left or the right allowing him/her to chip the ball down the centre of the goal. We call this style of penalty a ‘panenka‘ after the Czechoslovakian player AntonÃn Panenka who scored in this way in the 1976 European Championship final against Germany in the penalty shoot-out to win the tournament. Panenka Penalty.
- Example: There cannot be too many players who would have the confidence and audacity to successfully execute a Panenka in a World Cup final but Zidane did. (Guardian.co.uk, 25 March 2018)
- Example: Alexis Sanchez scored a panenka to win the 2015 Copa America for Chile against Argentina
- Example: AntonÃn Panenka won the 1976 European Championship title with Czechoslovakia by chipping the ball down the centre of the goal from the penalty spot and this style of penalty was then named after the Czechoslovak forward.
More Vocabulary
Check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and if you have any suggestions or questions, contact us at admin@languagecaster.com
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
