FRISCO, Texas — One-hundred and twenty minutes (plus stoppage time) had been played.
FC Dallas – thanks to a save by goalkeeper Maarten Paes – were tied 4-4 in a penalty shootout against Minnesota United FC with to give Alan Velasco an opportunity to win the match.
Velasco stepped up to the spot and showed he had massive cajones and goes for a panenka?!?! And better yet, scores a penalty shootout, game-winning panenka?!?!
You do a panenka penalty kick when you're winning ... not with the game on the line in a shootout of a playoff match. But not Velasco. He pulled out the cheeky move – invented by Czech player Antonín Panenka, who introduced it to the world in the UEFA Euro 1976 final – and sent FC Dallas fans into a frenzy.
When the game went to penalties, Velasco was ready for the clutch moment.
“It was a game full of tension and stress throughout the match,” Velasco said after the match. “It was my first ever playoff game and the boys were fully focused. In the penalty kicks, (head coach) Nico asked who wanted to shoot and I told him I wanted to be the fifth taker. He was able to organize the penalty kick takers and it helped us throughout the shootout.”
FC Dallas head coach Nico Estevez had nothing but high praise for the 20-year-old designated player.
“Some players have a special gene,” head coach Nico Estevez said after the game. “He’s a competitor. He wants to win, he wants to make FC Dallas big. It’s not only the quality he gave to the team, it’s the work he does. It’s amazing.”
Dan Hunt, the owner and president of FC Dallas, told reporters after the match that Velasco "has ice in his veins."
“When you watch the replay, it seems like the ball is just suspended in the air. But what a fabulous soccer player. And that’s what you want, players who can step up in big moments,” Hunt added.
You won't have to look too far back to see the other side of attempting a panenka in a crucial moment. In early September, LA Galaxy forward Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez attempted a panenka penalty kick in a 2-2 tied game against Sporting Kansas City. His was easily saved.
FC Dallas moves on to play at second-seeded Austin on Sunday in the Western Conference semifinals.
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