David Beckham has rejected claims that England players are being greedy over their bonuses for next year's World Cup, insisting reports suggesting that each player would receive ?300,000 for winning were wide of the mark.

　　"The truth is that we are earning less for this World Cup than we were for the last tournament," said the England skipper. Squad¹ members stood in line to pocket ?250,000 each for victory at the 2002 finals.

　　"I know for a fact that every one of the players in our team would play for our country for nothing. I would love to play in the World Cup for nothing and so would the other players. We don't go into a game thinking we can make money for winning. There is too much pride and passion in our team to even suggest that.

　　"There is money in football and we talk about bonuses every time a big competition comes around - and there is always criticism² of the players when bonuses are agreed. But money isn't the motivation - not at all. When you are a 15-year-old watching the World Cup, you don't dream of playing in it because you can make loads of money. Players don't think like that, you want to be there to play on that stage.

　　"The FA makes money and the players always get bonuses, that is a fact. And if we do not succeed then the money is not there."

　　贝克汉姆：为世界杯我愿一分钱不拿

　　效力于西班牙皇家马德里队的英格兰队队长贝克汉姆日前在接受采访时表示，为了世界杯，他宁愿一分钱也不拿。

　　据英国《卫报》11月28日报道，近日一些媒体纷纷报道说英格兰队参加世界杯的球员在2006年德国世界杯上每赢一场球，每名球员将可以从英足总得到30万英镑的奖金。对此贝克汉姆表示，媒体的报道太离谱了。据悉，在2002年世界杯决赛阶段，每一名英格兰队球员每获胜一场，就可以拿到25万英镑。

　　“事实是，在明年世界杯上我们的奖金要比上一届世界杯时少。”贝克汉姆表示：“就我所知，为了国家的荣誉，我们队中的任何一名球员都愿意在不拿一分钱的情况下去打比赛。我自己就是这样的，其他队友也同样如此。在比赛的时候，我们不会想着为了挣钱而去赢球。能为英格兰队效力是我们的骄傲，代表国家队参赛也令我们充满了激情，因此我们连想也不会那样想的。”

　　对于英足总每逢大赛向球员们提供奖金的做法，贝克汉姆认为这是事实，但不是球员们踢球的动力。“在足球比赛中确实有奖金，每逢大赛的时候球员们也都会谈论奖金的问题。因此每当这个时候，球员们也总是为这样的事情而受到媒体的批评。但金钱并不是我们踢球的动力，一点也不是。”