Video: Benfica youngster emulates Eric Cantona's 'worst panenka ever'
Czechoslovakia’s Antonin Panenka’s penalty in the 1976 World Cup against Germany left a lasting mark on football. The skill of waiting for the goalkeeper to dive the wrong way before dispatching a chip has been tried a number of times since, with varying results.
The great Pele went on to describe a Panenka penalty as ‘It was the work of “either a genius or a madman’.
Almost four decades on, we have had some spectacular ones from the likes of Zidane, Pirlo and most recently Santi Cazorla when the skill goes wrong nothing in football comes across as more ridiculous.
But this one from Benfica’s Romario Baldé during a UEFA Youth League match against Shakhtar Donetsk has to be one of the most extraordinary failed Panenka’s we have ever witnessed.
The 18-year-old stepped up to try and put his team 2-0 up in the game and decided to try and showcase his ‘cheeky brilliance’. He did the first part right and waited for the goalkeeper to make his move, but everything went terribly wrong as the youngster underhit his chip.
The goalkeeper had enough time to get up and save the feeble attempt.
Watch the attempt here:
Baldé got substituted soon after while Shakhtar equalized and went on to win on penalties. The embarrassment will be a hard one to take for the youngster but we sincerely hope he takes heart in even the great ‘Eric Cantona’ messed up a Panenka in similar fashion before the Frenchman went on to become a footballing icon.
Watch the uncanny similar ‘Panenka’ attempt by Cantona here.