Lionel Messi’s ‘Panenka’ Penalty Kick ‘Best I’ve Ever Seen,’ Inventor Says (GIF)

Here’s yet one more thing Lionel Messi can do well on the soccer field.

The “Panenka” penalty-kick goal Lionel Messi scored for Barcelona against Getafe on Tuesday has been hailed as the best of its kind by the man for whom that type of goal is named: Antonin Panenka. Panenka on Thursday described what made Messi’s “Panenka” or chipped, penalty kick, so good, according to Sky Sports.

“The execution was the best I’ve ever seen — not too powerful, central, good elevation,” Panenka told Spanish radio station RAC 1, according to Sky Sports. “Technically the goal was impressive. It is a further demonstration of (Messi’s) quality.”

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Messi’s “Panenka” was the first such goal he has scored in his legendary career, according to penalty-kick expert Ben Lyttleton.

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Panenka, 66, made goals like this famous when he scored one for Czechoslovakia in its shoot-out win over Germany in the final of the 1976 UEFA European Championship.