He went down in football history mainly thanks to the originally kicked and at the same time decisive eleven from the final of the European Championship (ME) in Belgrade in 1976. Former Czechoslovak football player Antonín Panenka (75) has been retired for several years and for he talked about the pension he receives and how his colleagues from the playgrounds cope with the high prices.
“I go to play football, tennis, golf… Sports still bring me joy and pleasure. I try to be around people. But I never felt good as a pensioner. The only positive thing is that as a pensioner I have free public transport in Prague,” he revealed with a smile, adding that the pension amounts are a disaster considering current prices.
“Some older, former representatives, don’t even have enough money for medicine, rent, and basic necessities. When I say it out loud, they live hand to mouth. It’s very sad,” sighed Panenka and mentioned that in the times when these footballers played, it was not possible to make money from football, as it is today.
Antonín Panenka was born on December 2, 1948 in Prague, but it didn’t have to be like that at all. His parents Bohumil and Antonie had their first son already in 1931, followed by another boy and a girl. They lived modestly and did not have much money. When Antonie became pregnant in early 1948, the couple wondered if they could afford a fourth childwrites .
“Someone advised my mother to visit a card reader. She actually went there and told her that she should definitely keep me because this child will be known to the whole world one day. And she was right. Thanks to the cards, I’m here now.” he revealed Doll va added that he learned the whole story only when he was about 35 years old.
Panenka was a member of Bohemians Praha (today Bohemians Praha 1905), whose green and white jersey he wore from his school years. At the age of 19, he started playing for the Prague “kangaroos” in the senior first league. He defended the colors of the parent club in the highest football competition of the then Czechoslovakia in the years 1967-1981 and scored 76 goals as a midfielder.
Panenka did not stand out for fighting or speed, but above all for his excellent kicking technique. Also thanks to these advantages, in the years 1973-1982 he was one of the mainstays of the Czechoslovak national team, with which he won the European title at the European Championship in the former Yugoslavia in 1976 and a bronze medal at the European Championship in Italy in 1980. He was one of the mainstays of the Czechoslovak national team at the World Championship (WC) in Spain in 1982. In total, he played 59 matches in the national team and scored 17 goals.
The legendary executor of Belgrade’s final penalty left an unforgettable mark in Austria as well. In the years 1981-1985, he played for the renowned Rapid Vienna. With the famous Austrian club, he won two league titles in the highest Austrian football competition, and in 1985 he fought with Rapid to the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup (PVP), in which the Viennese lost 1:3 to England’s Everton.
In the 1983/1984 season, Panenka was the league’s top scorer for Rapid Vienna, for which he played a total of 127 duels and netted 63 goals. Panenka closed the Austrian player chapter in the then second division clubs VSE St. Pölten (1985–1987), SK Slovan Wien (1987–1989), or in ASV Hohenau (1989–1991).
After returning to his homeland, he worked for several years as an assistant coach and official of Bohemians Prague. He currently holds the post of president of Bohemians Praha 1905. In 2008, Panenka was awarded the Václav Jíra Award. It is awarded to personalities who have contributed significantly to the development of Czech football. He is also a holder of the Czech state award – Medal for Merit, 1st degree, which was awarded to him in 2008 by the then Czech President Václav Klaus.
BELGRADE 1976
In an unforgettable final, the selection of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR), loaded mainly with players from Bratislava Slovan, faced the strong representation of the then West German Federal Republic (NSR). After a draw of 2:2 and a scoreless overtime, the Belgrade final went to a penalty shootout. By the eighth attempt, all actors have transformed the elevens.
German Ulli Hoeness was the first to hesitate, followed by Bohemians Praha gunner Antonín Doll. He beat the helpless and obviously shocked goalkeeper Sepp Maier with his shot into the middle of the goal, and Czechoslovakia enjoyed the title of European champions. The next day, the world’s media were scrambling to name Panenko’s way of executing the penalty.
Most often, the kick was compared to a falling leaf. Czech journalists talked about the “Vršovice dlobák”, because Panenka was one of the mainstays of Vršovice Bohemians at that time. The French media, in turn, called Panenka a football poet. Thanks to the Belgrade penalty, the Spanish football magazine Panenka is named after the legend of Czech football.
