How the Panenka Penalty Changed the Way We Think About Spot Kicks
Football Stories
A footballer by calling, a coach almost by accident; a natural-born goalscorer and a full-blooded provocateur — a barcelonista and an antimadridista in the truest sense of both words. A man whose volatile temperament often dragged not only himself, but his entire team, into trouble.
“In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol — it was the worst 20 minutes of my life,” George Best. The Boy who was more beautiful than football.
Officially, it was a World Cup qualifier. In reality, it was a farce — a political confrontation dressed up as football, played on a pitch that had already ceased to be a sporting venue.
Thursday, February 6, 1958, became the darkest day in Manchester United's history. A plane carrying players, club staff, journalists, and fans crashed at Munich Airport.
1969. Only a spark was missing, and it didn’t take long to appear. The FIFA World Cup was approaching.
“We hate you because we loved you.” That was the message Luis Figo might have read when he first returned to Camp Nou. Time is said to heal wounds, but in Figo’s case, it only made them fester. The betrayal of "Catalonia’s Judas" took an even darker turn in 2002, two years after his infamous transfer to Real Madrid. Cigarette lighters, golf balls, whisky bottles — Camp Nou erupted into chaos.
