World Football Daily

Having trouble waking up this morning? Just put on your headphones, turn the volume up, and hit play on the video below — that is, if you don’t mind a temporary loss of hearing…

No, nobody’s ever going to mistake Carolina Railhawks announcer Dean Linke with Derek Rae, but you certainly can’t deny the man’s enthusiasm. After all, his team has won its first three games, is top of the USL table and has twice gotten the USL Goal of the Week — that one from Sallieu Bundu against the Rochester Rhinos two weekends ago.

Now all this club needs is some supporters. Ebbsfleet United has better attendance than Carolina by a country mile yesterday. Of course, there may have been other factors involved in that…

…und now ist the time on Vorld Soccer Daily vhen ve dance!

Germany’s top flight returns after its winter break with plenty of interesting storylines. Can Bayern Munich repeat as champions? Does Cinderella’s slipper still fit Hoffenheim, even with star striker Vedad Ibisevic out for the rest of the season? Can Martin Jol do what Damian Comolli wouldn’t let him do at Tottenham and lead Hamburg to the Champions League? Can Werder Bremen somehow find its way back to Europe?

If you’re an American soccer fan, however, there’s only one real story in Germany right now — Landon Donovan.
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The third round of the FA Cup produced its fair share of drama and shocks. Nottingham Forest put a 3-0 licking on a disinterested Manchester City side at the Eastlands. Chelsea allowed Southend United, a mid-table League One side, to score a late goal and force a replay. Hartlepool United booted Stoke City out of the competition, while non-league sides Kettering Town and Torquay United survived and advanced to the next round and put their names in the hat with giants like Liverpool and Arsenal.

And yet the thing that stood out the most this weekend might have been this Guardian poll, in which more than 83% of respondents said that finishing 17th in the Premier League and avoiding relegation is more important than winning the FA Cup.

Has it really come to this? Does mediocrity really mean more than winning the oldest, most storied trophy in football? If all that matters is the money, then the answer is yes. Avoiding relegation guarantees a club will earn more than £30 million from the Premier League next season, while a successful FA Cup run brings in only £3.8 million in prize money and a bid to the UEFA Cup, another competition that lacks in prestige and prize money.

Clearly, the FA needs to sweeten the pot a bit if wants to keep the FA Cup from becoming as irrelevant as other domestic cup competitions around the world. Since adding more cash to the pot doesn’t appear to be an option, perhaps the FA can do this — give the FA Cup winner a UEFA Champions League bid.

Don’t scoff. That’s how we do it in America.
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The video below, courtesy of the blog Off The Post, shows Fulham’s John Pantsil pretending to get headbutted by Ricardo Fuller. Stunningly, Fuller was booked for this.

Remember, it’s not just pants — it’s Pantsil!
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