London - There was a moment of silence at London's Webley stadium as the fans of English national squad together with the motionless goalkeeper watched the ball sink into the net.
It was the kind of shot one would expect from David Beckham, the ubiquitous star of the home side.
Instead, it came from Marek Jankulovski, one of the "unknowns" (never mind his contract with AC Milan) from the opposing Czech team which at that moment took the lead in a Wednesday's friendly between the two teams.
Although the test match ended in a 2-2 draw with a last minute equalizer from Joe Cole, the hard-to-forget Jankulovski's goal from a free kick is bound to haunt football fans for quite some time.
The 31-year-old Czech Republic's defender who was awarded with the local Player-of-the-year trophy last May, scored in the 48th minute from a 20-meter distance with a perfect shot into the upper right corner that left David James standing helplessly between the posts.
Rather than basking in the glory after his superb score, Jankulovski showed remorse for giving up what even the English press called "undeserved equalizer".
"It takes eleven people to defend. We'll have to improve that aspect of our game," said Jankulovski after the match.
The Czech team is to begin their quest to qualify for the next World Cup against Northern Ireland on September 10.
