As anyone that watched the build-up to Wales’ World Cup qualifier with Serbia will have been reminded, the atmosphere in Belgrade can be as intimidating as they come.
Not if you’re Aaron Ramsey though.
Presented with the chance to give his country a first half lead from the penalty spot, the Arsenal midfielder looked anything but intimidated.
Having spotted the ball down, he went and chipped the ball high into to the right hand corner of the Serbian goal.
Ramsey paneka!!! pic.twitter.com/9JSeq7eiTZ
— CJ (@InRealTimeAFC) June 11, 2017
Needless to say, the majority of those watching were impressed by his composure.
Ramsey with a paneka into the corner from the spot. Coolness and composure in abundance. Imagine if he stayed injury free. #Wales
— Thomas Smith (@mrthomassmith_) June 11, 2017
A penalty away at a hostile ground in a must win in order to keep an entire nation's World Cup dream alive? Paneka it mate. https://t.co/vrpEzbrDGX
— ⚡️⚡️⚡️ (@Macroball) June 11, 2017
Audacious penalty from Ramsey.
If he tries that in an Arsenal shirt I'll chop his bollocks off!— Arsenal Block 19 (@Arsenal_Block19) June 11, 2017
Incredible that the idiots on Sky Sports think Ramsey miskicked his penalty
— Nikos Polydorou (@nikospolydorou) June 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/BrotherOwens/status/873988097427595268
Aaron Ramsey chipping a penalty down the middle away at Serbia pic.twitter.com/Te8Tq7g0Xd
— Grant Sheehan (@GrantSheehan_) June 11, 2017
In chipping the ball, Ramsey’s pen was quickly dubbed a Panenka by many of those that had watched it. This kind of spot kick is named after Czech player Antonin Panenka, a man largely credited as being its pioneer after he used it to seal his country’s shoot-out victory over Germany in the final of the 1976 European Championships.
Interestingly, Panenka’s penalty was taken in Red Star Stadium – the very same stadium in which Ramsey had given Wales the lead on Sunday evening.
At this stage, it’s unclear if Ramsey was even aware of this fact before stepping up to take the penalty. If not, it’s certainly a hell of a coincidence.
