DONETSK, June 28: Sergio Ramos admitted that the chipped penalty that gave Spain the initiative in their 4-2 penalty shoot-out win over Portugal in the Euro 2012 semifinals had been planned in advance.

The Real Madrid man beat Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio with a ‘Panenka’ penalty to put Spain 3-2 ahead and after Bruno Alves hit the crossbar with his attempt, Cesc Fabregas swept Spain into Sunday’s final in Kiev.

Ramos’ penalty in the last-four encounter in Donetsk on Wednesday was similar to Andrea Pirlo’s audacious spot-kick in Italy’s shoot-out win over England in the quarterfinals.

The 26-year-old centre-back had blazed a penalty over the crossbar in Madrid’s Champions League semi-final shoot-out loss to Bayern Munich in April, but he said he had no qualms about putting himself forward again.

“I’d planned it in advance, I won’t lie,” he told reporters after receiving the man-of-the-match award. “After my last experience with penalties with Real Madrid in the Champions League, people said I wasn’t ready for the responsiblity of taking a penalty. But I had confidence in myself and I wanted to try again.”

He added: “It was a risk, of course, but I had seen how the goalkeeper moved and I was pretty sure he would go one way or the other. It was lucky, but it was great for me.”

‘Panenka’ penalties are named after Antonin Panenka, whose nonchalant chipped penalty in the 1976 European Championship final gave the Czech Republic victory over defending champions West Germany.  Agencies