Panenka wants to watch Czech vs. Spain in Euro 2016 final

Czech former soccer player Antonin Panenka, who had the famous Panenka penalty kick named after him, said that he is satisfied with the result of the draw for the Euro 2016 in France, in which Spain and the Czech Republic will debut against each other, and hopes that both teams will play in the final of the championship.

In an interview with EFE Panenka said “I was happy that Spain will play its first game against the Czech Republic, because this means if we meet again it has to be in the final and this makes me happy.”

Both teams will play in Group D, which also includes Turkey and Croatia.

Panenka, born in Prague in 1948, played with Czechoslovakia in 1976, when his team won the European Championship by scoring a decisive penalty against West Germany with a subtle touch underneath the ball in the middle of the goal.

“It changed my life,” Paneka declares.

“I always like explaining how to execute this penalty kick and to talk about it, and I am very happy because the 40th anniversary of my penalty kick is approaching.

“Even children who have not seen it are learning it in schools and speak about it,” said a delighted Panenka.

June 2016 will mark the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Panenka penalty kick, which was effected in Belgrade, and since then players all over the globe have imitated it.

Panenka revealed that he never dreamt that it would be like this, or that the kick would gain global recognition, stressing that if he had won the title for Czechoslovakia back then with such a strange kick, it was only for effort and not mere luck.

“It is a penalty kick that requires a great deal of training,” he maintains.

“Of course you have to be daring and courageous to kick the ball in that way... to deceive the goalkeeper and make him think that you will kick the ball in one of the goals corners and then put it in the middle,” Panenka explains.

Four decades after the daring kick, Panenka now watches ambitious players and criticizes a basic error in executing the kick that he created, saying “there are a lot of players who want to take on the penalty kick and who stand just one step away from the ball.

“For me, this makes it more complicated.

“I believe the rule is to run for a good distance before kicking the ball,” the Czech insists.

Panenka is visiting Spain as an ambassador for the FiveStar Penalty challenge, which allows fans to try their luck taking penalties at Atletico Madrid’s stadium, the Vicente Calderon, during breaks between Rojiblancos’s games.

The Czech mentions a few players who have copied his style, such as Zinedine Zidane, Sergio Ramos, Andrea Pirlo, Francesco Totti and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Panenka said that he produced the idea for his famous kick with Zdenek Hruska, former goalkeeper of Bohemians Prague.

“I started scoring from penalties, but I also got fat,” he jokes.

Antonin Panenka spent 14 years playing for Bohemians Prague, while he played for a number of Austrian teams before retirement in 1983.