Player sacked after messing up Panenka penalty in Copa Sudamericana

A player has been shown the door by his club after his attempted Panenka penalty was saved in a Copa Sudamericana game.

Bendrix Parra was playing for Paraguayan side Independiente Campo Grande against Colombia’s La Equidad in the last 32 of South America’s equivalent of the Europa League.

When the tie, goalless after two legs, went to a shoot-out, Parra stepped up to take the third of Independiente’s spot-kicks – but his attempted Panenka ended up being saved by the chest of goalkeeper Diego Novoa.

As if the embarrassment of his very public failure was not punishment enough, the Venezuelan midfielder was subsequently shown the door by his club.

Independiente president Eriberto Gamarra told ABC Color’s Cardinal Deportivo: “The board made the decision because his way of taking the penalty was very irresponsible.

“We are all responsible for not reaching the next round of the Copa Sudamericana but it’s true that there was some upset in the group and they blame him.”

He added that they took the decision “because we wanted to leave this behind”.

As well as saving Parra’s effort, Novoa also scored in the shoot-out, which his side went on to win 4-3.

A Panenka penalty is when a player delicately chips the ball into the centre of the goal in anticipation that the goalkeeper will dive to either side and is named after Antonin Panenka who pioneered it as he helped Czechoslovakia defeat West Germany to win the 1976 European Championship.