The Power of the Hoff

He has professed to be more popular than Elvis, the most searched-for star on the Internet and the man that went unrecognized as the force that toppled the Berlin Wall and brought East and West Germany back together. Now David Hasselhoff has another claim to even more fame -- and for once, he isn't the one making it.

German soccer player Moritz Volz, currently playing for Fulham in the English Premier League, revealed this week that the US actor and singer has helped to end a goal drought that has stretched back three years.

Volz -- one of the more down-to-earth foreign stars in the English game, who drives a beat-up old VW Golf and lives in modest accommodation in one of London's less salubrious neighborhoods -- is a self-confessed devotee of the Hoff and believes that his hero's power was channeled through a new pair of boots he was wearing last weekend in the away game against Aston Villa in Birmingham.

Aston Villa 1 - HOFF 2

The Fulham star, who loves to conform to German stereotypes by sometimes sporting a blonde mullet haircut and eating bratwurst, scored his first Premiership goal to clinch a 1-1 draw for the West London club while shoed in a pair of cleats bearing the former Baywatch actor's name. "It was the first time I had worn my new boots with 'HOFF 2' sewn on them," Volz told reporters. "It's Hoff power."

Hasselhoff claims a mind power technique he perfected to get the role as Michael Knight in cult 80's series Knight Rider, the so-called "Power of the Subconscious Mind" effect, is behind much of his success.

Fulham currently lie in eighth place in the English top flight, some nine points behind league leaders Manchester United. But given David Hasselhoff's record in changing world history, don't be surprised if Fulham harness his influence via Volz's boots and eclipse their neighbors Chelsea come the end of the season to lift the championship trophy. The Premiership has been warned.