"It's a big embarrassment to us as World Cup hosts that we have to settle for second best, " said South African FA chief executive Leslie Sedibe at the time.

BBC: South Africa still undecided on World Cup training base

Earlier this week, a leading South African FA (Safa) official cited 'the big embarrassment' of having to change training venues with less than four months to go until the finals.

BBC: South Africa still undecided on World Cup training base

That is why the incident is more than a big embarrassment for JPMorgan, although - for the avoidance of doubt - it will put a dent in the bank's profits for 2012 but won't anywhere near eliminate them.

BBC: JPMorgan��s loss may cost all banks

Other Spaniards support the initiative, but not out of patriotism, more out of the embarrassment they experience at big events like international football games.

BBC: NEWS | Europe | Spain seeks words for its anthem

Embarrassment had not played a big part in his long life.

NEWYORKER: Ziggurat

February's downgrade by Moody's, another of the big three rating agencies, was seen as a political embarrassment to the government, which had promised to protect the UK's credit rating when it was elected in 2010.

BBC: S&P reaffirms UK triple-A rating

The Super Bowl outage, which interrupted the big game for about half an hour, was an acute embarrassment for Entergy, which is based in New Orleans.

WSJ: Device Setting Triggered Super Bowl Outage

New Labour, for example, has been rescued from the possible embarrassment of the collapse of the Millennium Dome project by generous sponsorship from big firms such as Tesco and British Telecom.

ECONOMIST: The new establishment

Robert Chote's letter to the prime minister is an embarrassment for David Cameron - and marks yet another way in which his big set-piece speech on the economy has failed to work out as Downing Street hoped.

BBC: A ticking-off for the PM