Chin up son, all the greats have embarrassing Panenka misses in their lockers

Benfica youngster Romario Baldé produced perhaps the worst ‘Panenka’ of all time in the Uefa Youth League.

It may even move into contention with the likes of Peter Devine among the worst penalties of any description.

According to Portugal’s Record newspaper Baldé reacted to Benfica’s eventual elimination at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk by “throwing himself to the ground crying inconsolably.”

But the kid should dry his eyes. You’re nobody these days if you don’t have a botched Panenka on the CV.

Francesco Totti

Totti has clipped in plenty of ‘Panenkas’ in his time, notably in Italy’s Euro 2000 shoot-out win over the Netherlands. But he has also done things like this:

Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo seemed to decide this was going to be a Panenka rather too late in the day.

Gary Lineker

Lineker, needing just a goal to equal Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record, decided this was just the moment to inject hitherto well-concealed flamboyance into his approach to goalscoring. It didn’t end well.

Andrea Pirlo

Pirlo must take some responsibility for the recent resurgence of the Panenka, having embarrassed Joe Hart at Euro 2012. During this pre-season friendly with Barcelona, he embarrassed himself.

Robin van Persie

Van Persie so disgusted himself with this shambolic effort against Kelvin Davies, that he went on to bag two more goals and claim his hat-trick against the Saints. The inspirational power of humiliation.

Neymar

Some of his best work on the shimmying and collapsing front was wasted with some of his worst from the spot.

You don’t, of course, have to be any good to make a complete hames of a Panenka