U.S. will be keeping a close watch on Howard

American goalkeeper Tim Howard, who suffered an unspecified rib or chest injury when he collided with forward Emile Heskey during Saturday night’s 1-1 tie with England, is still being monitored.

“He is currently receiving treatment and our trainers are closely evaluating his progress,” a U.S. spokesman said Sunday evening.

Howard was caught in the ribs by Heskey’s boot in the game in Rustenburg and needed pain medication at halftime in order to continue. He said he had been in “agony” when the collision occurred.

“He’ll be evaluated later today,” Coach Bob Bradley said Sunday morning at the team’s base camp in Irene, “and a decision will be made” on whether Howard would undergo an MRI exam or other tests.

“When you see the way Timmy handled himself after the collision last night, you’d certainly expect him to be on the field again,” Bradley said, referring to Friday afternoon’s game against Slovenia in Johannesburg.

England’s TV glitch

British television had an embarrassing moment Saturday night and apologized for it Sunday.

For reasons that were not entirely clear, ITV’s high-definition service cut away from the U.S.-England’s game in Rustenburg to show a commercial at the exact moment that Steven Gerrard scored England’s fourth-minute goal.

Melee at Durban

Riot police clashed with stadium workers in Durban not long after Germany had beaten Australia, 4-0, at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday night.

According to early reports, hundreds of stewards were protesting about their low wages in the stadium parking lot when they were charged by riot police, who fired two percussive grenades.

The protesters later left peacefully after calm discussions with police, the Associated Press reported. There were no injuries or arrests reported.

Etc.

Spain probably won’t have injured striker Fernando Torres for the team’s opening game against Switzerland on Wednesday, Coach Vicente del Bosque said Sunday. ... A plane carrying 14 journalists from the Al-Jazeera TV network to the Slovenia-Algeria game in Polokwane on Sunday was forced to make an emergency landing at a regional airport in northern Johannesburg after experiencing technical problems soon after takeoff. There were no injuries. ... At least 30 fans were hurt in Dhaka, Bangladesh, when fans attacked power distribution centers and vandalized vehicles in protest of a power outage that blacked out Saturday’s Argentina-Nigeria match.