Germany Beats England in World Cup

In a match went unbelievably well for the German's side, England was sent home from South Africa. Some kind of deja vu happened in the match, a shot by Frank Lampard clearly cross the goal line but neither the referee or the linesmen saw it, totally opposite what happened in 1966 World Cup when a shot by English player Geoff Hurst struck the crossbar, bounced down, did not cross the line but the referee awarded a goal for England.
Germany went up on goals by Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski before England's Matthew Upson made it 2-1 in the 37th minute. Lampard's non-goal came a minute later. After the ball landed across the line, it spun back into the arms of Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Capello initially celebrated what he thought was an equalizer by clenching his fists and shaking his arms. But his face changed when he realized the goal had not been given. As the players headed off the field at halftime, Wayne Rooney walked over to a linesman and gestured with his hands how far he thought the ball crossed the goal line.
In 1966, England and Germany were 2-2 in extra time in the World Cup final when Geoff Hurst's shot struck the underside of the crossbar, bounced down and spun back into play. That time, the referee consulted his linesman, who awarded the goal. Hurst went on to score a third goal in England's 4-2 victory at Wembley.
This time, it was Mueller getting two goals. "We heard that the ball was behind the line, that we were fortunate," Mueller said of Lampard's shot. "Before the last two goals, the game hung in the balance, England was putting on the pressure." The 20-year-old forward finished two quick German counterattacks within 3 minutes to sink England's hopes of beating Germany at the World Cup for the first time since that '66 final.

Defending Champion Knocked Out

Slovakia qualified for their first FIFA World Cup finals after beating Poland 1-0 thanks to an own goal by Polish player. Although, topping the European zone Group 3, no one takes Slovakia as serious opponent. However, all had changed on Thursday (June 24).



In an incredible and dramatic match, Slovakia beat the defending champion, Italy, knocked the defending champion out of World Cup. In a greatest shock of group action in South Africa FIFA World Cup, Slovakia secured its place in 2nd round but put Italy not only out of the competition but finished last in the group, this is Italy’s worst result since FIFA World Cup 1974.

Slovakia started the game powerfully and showed their domination to led 2 – 0 with Robert Vittek’s goals in 25th and 73rd minutes. Only in the 81st minute did Antonio DiNatale manage to put the ball in the net for the Italians. From there they began to emerge and dominate the play, a furious rally in search of a second goal to preserve their tournament lives.



But, few minutes later, it was Slovakia who scored making Italy hopes of advancing seemingly extinguished once and for all when Slovakia substitute Kamil Kapunek beautifully exploited defensive hesitation, running onto a throw-in before lifting the ball brilliantly beyond advancing goalkeeper Federico Marchetti.

It’s already 89 minutes of normal stopwatch time, but then 4 minutes were added by the referee. So there was time for Quagliarella to score a superb strike to put the score 3 – 2 and heating up the game in its 2 minutes time left, so intense that Slovakia keeper Jan Muscha had to tussle with Quagliarella as they both tried to retrieve the ball from the back of the net.



The incident lengthen the game out of official added time and did increase the tension when Italy put everything out for an equalizer. However, it’s not enough for them to get that so much needed third goal. It’s a tragic end for Italy in 2010 World Cup and resounding success for Slovakia on its first participation in World Cup.

Opening Match

In an impressive game, South Africa and Mexico clashed in the opening game.  South Africa scored first which took the whole nation in celebration but Mexico finally equalized.  The match keeps the unbreakable records that host nation never loose in the opening match.





Yesterday in Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the first goal in FIFA World Cup 2010 on 55 minutes in the opening match against Mexico, the goal that put the host nation in front. In front of almost eighty five thousand spectators, it was an emotional moment for him, his team and his nation, and they celebrated joyfully afterwards. See those moments in the video below. Tshabalala is South Africa talented player who born in 1984 and played as winger for Kaizer Chiefs in the Premier Soccer League in South Africa. Tshabalala was part of the South African squad at 2006 African Nations Cup, 2008 African Nations Cup and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. Mexico later tied the game 1 – 1 but it did not diminish the specialty of this goal.

Shakira Performs Waka Waka

In the biggest pop extravaganza in this continent’s history, Shakira performed the song “Waka Waka”. The 2010 World Cup song is co-writer and also featured Shakira Shakira. FIFA’s official World Cup song “Waka Waka” shows the Colombian singer Shakira and the local South African band Freshlyground, and sings in English and Spanish. The song is based on the traditional song entitled Zangalewa African soldiers. This is a 2 days show featuring 1,581 performers across the globe.