In association football, the Panenka is a technique used while taking a penalty kick in which the taker, instead of kicking the ball to the left or right of the goalkeeper, gives a light touch underneath the ball, causing it to rise and fall within the centre of the goal, deceiving the goalkeeper who is counted on by the taker to have guessed a side and committed to a dive away from the centre. It was first believed to have been used by Czech player Antonín Panenka, who introduced this technique to the world in the UEFA Euro 1976 final in Belgrade, when he beat West German goalkeeper Sepp Maier to claim the title for the Czechoslovakian national team. After its sensational debut in the tournament, the Panenka kick has been used on rare occasions and mostly by highly respected players who c