No World Cup anthem for England football heroes

The England football team will jet off to South Africa this year without the benefit of the traditional rousing official anthem, the FA has announced.

The shock decision, which means our plucky lads will have to rely entirely on their highly-paid skills to secure World Cup glory, marks the first time since 1966 that fans have not enjoyed a catchy soundtrack to the inevitable failure of some of the planet's biggest wage packets to get anywhere near the ultimate footballing prize.

According to the BBC, the cancellation may have been provoked by a "lukewarm response" to the 2006 effort: World At Your Feet by Embrace.

All is not lost, however, since several unofficial anthems may be in the offing, including a "reworking" of New Order's 1990 song World in Motion. Alternatively, someone could just get Susan Boyle to give this the magic treatment, and be done with it:

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