Euro heroes No 7, Antonin Panenka

THE Czechoslovakia midfielder shot to prominence in the 1976 final against West Germany with what was the first high-profile instance of a player chipping home a penalty.

After extra time, the result was 2–2, and so the first penalty shootout in a European Championships final ensued. The first seven kicks were converted, until West Germany’s fourth penalty taker, Uli Hoeness, ballooned his shot over the bar. With the score 4–3, Panenka stepped up to take the fifth Czech penalty, to win the match under immense pressure.

German goalkeeper Sepp Maier dived to his left, while Panenka chipped the ball straight down the middle of the net. The sheer impudence of the goal led a watching French journalist to dub Panenka “a poet”, and his name is now synonymous with that style of penalty. The player said he came up with the idea on the training ground after racking his brains to find a way to beat his teammate Zdenek Hruška.