🎥 Goal of the Day: Genius Johan Cruyff reinvents the penalty kick

OneFootball

Padraig Whelan·22 June 2020

🎥 Goal of the Day: Genius Johan Cruyff reinvents the penalty kick

A penalty kick should be a relatively routine task.

The taker faces a goalkeeper from 12 yards in a battle of wits. There shouldn’t be much to it.

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But trust legendary Dutchman Johan Cruyff, one of the game’s greatest minds, to come up with a new spin even on that.

While playing for Ajax against Helmond Sport in 1982, he caught everyone by surprise by passing his penalty to team-mate Jesper Olsen before planting the return ball past a bewildered goalkeeper.

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Whether Cruyff himself was aware of it or not is unclear but he wasn’t actually the first player to pull off the feat.

That honour falls to Belgian duo Rik Coppens and André Piters in an 8-3 World Cup qualifying win over Iceland in 1957.

It doesn’t always go to plan though. Just ask Arsenal duo Robert Pires and Thierry Henry about that one …