<p style="text-align: center;"><em>(<strong>Results:</strong> Serbia 1-0 Germany, USA 2-2 Slovenia, England 0-0 Algeria)</em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">What a day of football. It started off with an eventful game, progressed with a cracking contest and ended with a stinker. In the end, the fate of two World Cup contenders was left hanging by a thin rope. Germany were brought crashing down to earth by a gutsy Serbian side, while the whole of England wondered how much Fabio Capello is getting paid by Italians. According to unknown and unseen sources, The English FA have started receiving resumes from all across the world.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Here is a wrap of a wonderful day's action...</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>Player of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>David James</strong> - an England goalkeeper, who went without making a mistake through the match. Monumental effort! On a much serious note, the most eye-catching individual performance of the day was from Serbia's Milos Krasic, who often bamboozled the Germans and created plenty of openings.<span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong> </strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>Smartest Finish of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">Just when you thought the World Cup lacked intelligent footballers, step up skipper <strong>Landon Donovan (USA)</strong>. From virtually zero-degree angle, less than six yards out and with no other US shirt to support him, Donovan blasted a shot into the roof off the net, to put the USA back in the game. He assessed his options, knew exactly what was required, and executed it perfectly.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;"><img class="aligncenter" title="Sports News - June 18, 2010" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9150434/sports-news-june-2010/sports-news-june-2010.jpg?size=500&imageId=9150434" border="0" alt="June 18, 2010 - 06054538 date 18 06 2010 Copyright imago BPI Landon Donovan r of USA Scores Past Slovenia Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic to Bring The Score Back to 2 1 PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUKxFRAxNEDxESPxSWExPOLxCHNxJPN Johannesburg Football men World Cup National team international match Action shot Vdig xub 2010 Square Highlight premiumd Football." width="350" height="406" /></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em>Power plus height equals perfection!</em></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>Heskey of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">You would think Heskey would have made this award his own, by now. However, <strong>Wayne Rooney's (England)</strong> performance against Algeria was simply rubbish. This is not the man who was expected to lead England to the World Cup title. Rooney's touch deserted him and he turned out to be the worst striker on the pitch.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Goal of the Day</span></strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Valter Birsa (Slovenia)</strong> scored the goal of the World Cup so far, when he curled-in a wonderful left-foot shot from outside of the penalty box, to leave American keeper Tim Howard rooted to the spot. Unlike Diego Forlan's so-called wonder strike, this did not take a deflection on the way.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>(Joachim) 'Loew Blow' of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">It is the man himself - <strong>Joachim Loew (Germany)</strong> - who receives this painful title. After the world had drooled over his Ozzie-thrashing German team a few days ago, Germany were well and truly grounded. They are now facing elimination at the hands of Ghana.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>Son of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Michael Bradley's (USA)</strong> late equaliser for his father, coach of the US team Bob Bradley, earns him this title. Michael was the brightest spark in the US team, and his hard-working, anticipating runs finally paid off when he found himself at the end of a knockdown in the penalty box. His finish was exquisite, and it kept USA's World Cup dreams alive.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" title="Sports News - June 18, 2010" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9150814/sports-news-june-2010/sports-news-june-2010.jpg?size=500&imageId=9150814" border="0" alt="June 18, 2010 - 06054566 date 18 06 2010 Copyright imago BPI Michael Bradley r of USA Celebrates Scoring The equalising Goal to Make The Score 2 2 Against Slovenia PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUKxFRAxNEDxESPxSWExPOLxCHNxJPN Johannesburg Football men World Cup National team international match cut out Single Action shot Vdig xub 2010 horizontal Highlight premiumd Football." width="500" height="333" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Son of a B***ley! </em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>Historic Moments of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Serbia</strong> earned their first ever World Cup win as an independent nation. <strong>Milan Jovanovic (Serbia)</strong> also scored their first ever World Cup goal.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" title="Germany vs Serbia" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9146043/germany-serbia/germany-serbia.jpg?size=500&imageId=9146043" border="0" alt="June 18, 2010 - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - epa02209010 Serbia's Milan Jovanovic (C) beats Germany's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and Arne Friedrich to score the 0-1 during the 2010 FIFA World Cup group D match between Germany and Serbia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 18 June 2010." width="500" height="301" /> <em>Jovanovic's winner against G</em><em>ermany!</em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Germany</strong> were handed their first group stage defeat since 1986. First German World Cup <strong>penalty miss</strong> in 24 years. A truly historic day.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>Bottler of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Lucas Podolski (Germany)</strong> bottled it for Deutschland. His penalty miss came two mins after he had failed to capitalise on two glorious chances. He then, went on to miss another wonderful opportunity. Klose was badly missed.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" title="Germany vs Serbia" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9147011/germany-serbia/germany-serbia.jpg?size=500&imageId=9147011" border="0" alt="June 18, 2010 - Port Elizabeth, S dafrika - epa02209355 Germany's Lukas Podolski sits on the pitch during the 2010 FIFA World Cup group D match between Germany and Serbia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa 18 June 2010. Serbia won 1-0." width="500" height="329" /> <em>So much for the hype! </em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Laughing Stock Of The Day</span></strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">It is not a good time to be associated with<strong> England</strong>, right now. When the World Cup draw was done, the whole nation was happy with the 'easiest possible draw'. The English arrogance was typified by one particular headline, which will especially be <a href="http://www.anfieldroad.com/dont-buy-the-sun/" target="_blank">enjoyed by Liverpool supporters</a>. See below.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thehardtackle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/the-sun-world-cup-2010.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-6080 aligncenter" title="the-sun-world-cup-2010" src="http://www.thehardtackle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/the-sun-world-cup-2010.jpg" alt="" width="256" height="467" /></a> <em>Don't you just love football?</em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Biggest Controversy of the Day</span></strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">But for a bizarre decision from referee <strong>Koman Coulibaly (Mali)</strong>, 'Team USA' would have completed a sensational second-half comeback. After watching several replays, one still hasn't been able to figure out why Adu's goal was ruled out in the dying minutes of the game. There was plenty of tussling going on, but nothing to suggest that an American player was fouling a Slovenian any more than a Slovenian was fouling an American.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>'Card-friendly clown' of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Whether his wife had subjected him to domestic torture the previous day, or whether he was a <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2010061713" target="_blank">Boston Celtics supporter</a>, is simply not known. However, Spanish referee <strong>Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)</strong>, stepped onto the field in no mood for leniency, brandishing out card after card in the Germany-Serbia match. He handed eight yellow cards, and one extremely harsh red card to Miroslav Klose.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" title="FIFA WM 2010: Deutschland gegen Serbien in Nelson Mandela Bay / Port Elizabeth" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view3.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9147675/fifa-2010-deutschland/fifa-2010-deutschland.jpg?size=500&imageId=9147675" border="0" alt="June 18, 2010 - Port Elizabeth, S DAFRIKA - BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER (GER, M) UND SAMI KHEDIRA (GER; R) DISKUTIEREN MIT DEM SPANISCHEN SCHIEDSRICHTER ALBERTO MALLENCO BER DIE ROTE KARTE GEGEN MIROSLAV KLOSE (GER, L) BEIM SPIEL ZWISCHEN DEUTSCHLAND UND SERBIEN W HREND DER FIFA WM 2010 IM NELSON MADELA BAY STADIUM IN PORT ELIZABETH.180610 / FREITAG / NELSON MANDELA BAY / PORT ELIZABETH / S DAFRIKA / AFRIKA / SPO / 2010 / FUSSBALL / FIFA WM 2010 / WM2010 / WELTMEISTERSCHAFT / FUSSBALLWELTMEISTERSCHAFT / SPIEL 21 / GRUPPENPHASE / GRUPPE D / DEUTSCHLAND VS SERBIEN / GER VS SRB / FUSSBALLER / NATIONALSPIELER / ROT / PLATZVERWEIS..action press .FIFA World Cup, Group Match, Germany vs Serbia on June 18, 2010 in Nelson Mandela Bay / Port Elizabeth, South Africa. ..FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 / FOOTBALL / SOCCER / SOUTH AFRICA / FRIDAY / GROUP D / GERMANY VS SERBIA..FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 / FOOTBALL / SOCCER / SOUTH AFRICA / FRIDAY / GROUP D / GERMANY VS SERBIA." width="500" height="333" /> <em>Taa-daa! the card trick!</em><span style="color: #000000;"> </span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong><em>Funniest Quotes of the Day</em></strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;"><strong>Steven Gerrard (England)</strong> was asked <em>"So what was missing today, Steven?"</em></span></span><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">. He replied<em> "Goals."</em>, and paused for a long time before realising he needs to say more in front of the cameras. England were just too simple both, on and off the field.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">After beating Germany, <strong>Nemanja Vidic (Serbia)</strong> said</span></span><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em> "Everything is in our hands"</em></span></span><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">, and quite literally, it is. It's Serbia's idiotic hand balls that are defining their tournament.</span></span><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong> </strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong> </strong></em></span><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>'Malfunction of a football player's tiny brain' of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">What is it with Serbs and hand balls? After Kuzmanovic's ridiculous gift to Ghana in their opening game, <strong>Nemanja Vidic</strong> decided he needs to be in the morning papers, as well. With absolutely no danger in sight from a Podolski cross, the Man United centre-back dramatically threw himself full-stretch to touch the ball with his hands in the penalty area, in hope of earning a foul. Unlike Kuzmanovic, who broke into tears, Vidic has Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic to thank, for letting him off the hook.</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000;"><img class="aligncenter" title="FIFA WM 2010: Deutschland gegen Serbien in Nelson Mandela Bay / Port Elizabeth" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9147650/fifa-2010-deutschland/fifa-2010-deutschland.jpg?size=500&imageId=9147650" border="0" alt="June 18, 2010 - Port Elizabeth, S DAFRIKA - ELFMETER -DURCH DAS HANDSPIEL VON NEMANJA VIDIC (SRB) IM STRAFRAUM BEIM SPIEL ZWISCHEN DEUTSCHLAND UND SERBIEN W HREND DER FIFA WM 2010 IM NELSON MADELA BAY STADIUM IN PORT ELIZABETH.180610 / FREITAG / NELSON MANDELA BAY / PORT ELIZABETH / S DAFRIKA / AFRIKA / SPO / 2010 / FUSSBALL / FIFA WM 2010 / WM2010 / WELTMEISTERSCHAFT / FUSSBALLWELTMEISTERSCHAFT / SPIEL 21 / GRUPPENPHASE / GRUPPE D / DEUTSCHLAND VS SERBIEN / GER VS SRB / FUSSBALLER / NATIONALSPIELER / AKTION / SPIELSZENE / HAND ..action press .FIFA World Cup, Group Match, Germany vs Serbia on June 18, 2010 in Nelson Mandela Bay / Port Elizabeth, South Africa. ..FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 / FOOTBALL / SOCCER / SOUTH AFRICA / FRIDAY / GROUP D / GERMANY VS SERBIA..FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 / FOOTBALL / SOCCER / SOUTH AFRICA / FRIDAY / GROUP D / GERMANY VS SERBIA." width="500" height="333" /></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em>Vidic - the flying Serb!</em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">Team of the Day</span></strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">It could have been Serbia, but it has to be <strong>Algeria</strong>. The gulf of talent between England and Algeria was neutralised by a wonderfully hard-working, gutsy and efficient Algerian team. Algeria took the game to England in the beginning, and were better than their more illustrious rivals, when in possession of the ball.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>Stat of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">Since 1966, only Jay-Jay Okocha (33 shots) has had more shots without scoring than <strong>Frank Lampard</strong> (31 shots) in the World Cup. Frank still has the Slovenia game to claim the record.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>Celebration of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">We saw it in the first match, and we saw it again. Upon scoring a goal, the <strong>Slovenian players</strong> indulge in some sort of a 'rain dance' that can only be seen in an islolated, uneducated tribe in the forests of Africa. Unfortunately, there is no FIFA rule stating that the goal can be withdrawn on the basis of a poor celebration.</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000;"><img title="Slovenia - USA 2010 FIFA World Cup" onmousedown="return false;" src="http://view2.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9152143/slovenia-usa-2010-fifa/slovenia-usa-2010-fifa.jpg?size=500&imageId=9152143" border="0" alt="June 18, 2010 - Johannesburg, South Africa - Valter Birsa of Slovenia celebrates after scoring with team mates during the FIFA World Cup 2010 soccer match between Slovenia and USA at Ellis Park Stadium on June 18, 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa." width="500" height="326" /> </span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em>Slovenian 'rain dance' </em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><em><strong>Biggest laughter of the Day</strong></em></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><span style="color: #000000;">Mocked, bruised and battered by the British media, former coach <strong>Sven Goran Eriksson</strong> must have enjoyed England's downfall. In hindsight, he might just have over-achieved with this English side - two quarter-final appearances in the last two World Cups.</span></span></p> <script src="http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.js" type="text/javascript"></script>