Brahim Díaz’s nightmare miss shows dangers of trying to emulate Panenka

Being too smart for your own good is usually drummed out of children before they leave school but sometimes people cannot help themselves. The Panenka penalty, successfully executed, offers the limited benefit of making a goalkeeper look silly and the taker a genius but Brahim Díaz is the latest to learn the cost of what happens when it goes wrong.

Díaz was given 15 minutes to consider what to do with his spot-kick after the ludicrous levels of drama in the Africa Cup of Nations final. Maybe this was his undoing: being able to ponder every option, from the rudimentary to the artistic, until deciding to replicate Antonin Panenka’s creation with what could, and should, have been the last kick of the tournament.

It went wrong, terribly so, for the Real Madrid forward, who chipped meekly into the hands of the unmoved Édouard Mendy. Senegal went on to triumph in extra time and Díaz had to sheepishly collect his golden boot award from Gianni Infantino with the look of a child who wants chips for dinner but is getting peas.

Overconfidence is one issue; no one thinks the dinked penalty is worthwhile when morale is low. With five goals in six games before the final, Díaz was arguably the key man for Morocco, taking them to the verge of glory in a home tournament. Against Mali he calmly stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way but he concluded that trying to replicate that penalty was ill-advised, perhaps because the keeper would be anticipating something similar.

The stakes were as high for Díaz as they had been for Panenka. The Czechoslovakia midfielder also had a continental title in reach and the chance to make history for his country but, unlike the Moroccan, he had the complete element of surprise. No one had tried it before 1976 and West Germany’s Sepp Maier fell for it. Why wouldn’t he? By succeeding Panenka wrote his name in folklore, a feat matched by Díaz for the wrong reasons.

Mendy was fully aware of the idiosyncrasies involved in a Panenka run-up, having saved one from Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero in May 2021 while playing for Chelsea. That was in an empty stadium during Covid; this was in the white-hot heat of Rabat, with more than 60,000 anticipating glory. The result, however, was the same.

The Panenka requires a momentary stop when reaching the ball and if the goalkeeper holds their nerve, they are rewarded with the simplest of saves. Díaz has said it will be hard for him to recover from his miss.

“My soul hurts,” he said. A far cry from Panenka’s reflections on his groundbreaking spot-kick. “I wanted to give the fans something new to see, to create something that would get them talking,” he said. Diaz has ensured the conversation will go on and on.

Antonin Panenka converts the winning penalty in the 1976 European Championship final, using the technique that would go on to bear his name. Photograph: Colorsport/Shutterstock

He is in good company, Danny Welbeck and Enzo Le Fée have recently failed with Panenkas in the Premier League. Even Cristiano Ronaldo messed one up against Athletic Bilbao. Welbeck, having earlier scored from the spot for Brighton, almost caused a riot at West Ham with his bungled effort. It must have been regarded by home fans as insulting to try and downright offensive when it hit the bar. Brighton’s chance to go 2-1 up vanished and they ended up coming from 2-1 down to draw 2-2.

At Brentford, Le Fée gave the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher a straightforward catch, relinquishing the chance to level a game Sunderland went on to lose. Le Fée had scored earlier in the season against Kelleher with power and precision into the corner but, like Welbeck, clearly overthought.

In the Premier League this season 90% of penalties sent down the middle have been successful, a higher rate than going left or right. There is merit in the practice because goalkeepers generally anticipate needing to dive, and are fearful of looking stupid if they do not, but it would make more sense to hammer the ball as hard as possible because if a keeper remains stationary there is a chance a powerful strike would still beat them.

“I saw myself as an entertainer and I saw this penalty as a reflection of my personality,” Panenka said. Drama, tragedy and comedy are potential outcomes of a Panenka, whether perfect or failed, but the showman only wants a glorious ending. It is a selfish act in a team game where the risk outweighs the reward.