Chinese Soccer Players: Give Us $1 Million Or Give Us Death

What do you get when you cross an overzealous group of soccer players and a staunch communist state? If you answered “the script to Shaolin Soccer,” then you’ve been watching too many movies, but you’re close. The Chinese Football Association has offered the national soccer team one million dollars if they qualified for the next World Cup. The team accepted their offer and said they’ll make it-or die trying. How 50 Cent of them.

“I pledge to advance to the World Cup, which is the professional goal that we strive for,” the players recited on Tuesday, according to the paper.

“We swear by death to kill along the bloody road of defending the honour of the motherland and realise our youthful dreams.”

Yeah, they might get a couple of red cards for that. But maybe these are the teams that get the Englands of the world to get off their thrones and back on their game.
China players make million-dollar World Cup pledge [Yahoo, via Deuce of Davenport]
Image [Deuce of Davenport]