Be it a panenka or a hop/skip move (employed by the likes of Jorginho and Bruno Fernandes), we’ve seen a lot of creativity from the spot over the years: but this effort from Tomislav Mrkonjic in the 2nd tier of Croatian football takes cheekiness to a whole new level.
Mrkonjic set the ball down on the spot when Croatia Zmijavci were awarded an injury time penalty in their fixture against Cibalia on Sunday.
While the referee made sure of the goalkeeper being on the line and observed other formalities, the 26-year-old was immensely calm as he settled down to tie his shoelaces: almost with an air of lazy arrogance.
When the referee finally blew the whistle to take the penalty, Mrkonjic did something nobody present at the venue expected him to do as he stood and simply rolled the ball into the net in one movement.
Cibalia’s custodian under the crossbar did not have a clue and by the time he realized the shot was taken, it was too late as Zmijavci players busy getting the ball out of his goal.
1-0 down in the 95th minute and up steps Croatia Zmijaci’s Tomislav Mrkonjic with perhaps the cheekiest penalty ever… pic.twitter.com/nh2bWLKUee
— Richard Wilson (@timomouse) November 2, 2020
Mrkonjic helped his team overcome a 1-0 deficit to go on to draw the game. It is safe to say that opposing goalkeepers will be on their guard the next time the left-footed forward steps up to take a penalty, although this one will live long amongst the archives of the cheekiest penalties ever taken in history.
