Aaron Ramsey’s deft penalty helped a depleted Wales cling on to draw against Serbia in their World Cup qualifying clash in Belgrade on Sunday.
Caerphilly-born Ramsey, 26, scored a first-half penalty at the Stadion Rajko Miti? to put his side ahead, but bereft of stars Gareth Bale, Hal Robson-Kanu and Neil Taylor, Wales struggled to retain their lead against the Group D leaders, eventually relenting to a 73rd minute equaliser by Newcastle United striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.
A resilient performance was sparked by a moment of magic from Ramsey, who scored a panenka penalty at the same stadium it was first introduced to the world.
Named after Antonín Panenka, a former Czech midfielder, the skill involves deftly chipping the ball down the centre of the goal, instead of conventionally aiming for either corner. Panenka himself scored the decisive penalty in the shootout of the 1976 European Championship Final as Czechoslovakia defeated West Germany.
He was later included in UEFA’s Team of the Tournament, and his audacious penalty has been replicated across the world by the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi, and Ramsey’s Arsenal teammate Alexis Sanchez.
The 1-1 result means last summer’s Euro 2016 semi-finalists face an uphill battle to qualify automatically for next year’s World Cup in Russia.
With four matches left, Wales remain four points adrift of Serbia and the Republic of Ireland – who occupy the top two spots – and will have to negotiate a play-off match unless they win each of their remaining fixtures, having drawn five on the bounce since a 4-0 win over Moldova at the start of the campaign.
The Dragons welcome Austria to the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday September 2, before two away trips to Moldova and Georgia.
They finish their qualifying campaign with a massive – and potentially decisive – match against the Republic of Ireland in Cardiff on Monday October 9.