CSS: Why “vertical-align: middle” does not work?

Question

Consider the following example: (live demo here)

HTML:

Answer 1

Try using a background image on an :

    
a {display:block;background:#000;line-height:40px;background:#000 url(http://img.brothersoft.com/icon/softimage/s/smiley.s_challenge-131939.jpeg) no-repeat left center;text-indent:-999px}