Country comes before cash: Beckham

How greedy are England football stars? The captain feels not at all. Beckham says they have taken pay cuts for World Cup 2006.

England Captain David Beckham has insisted that England stars have taken a pay cut for the World Cup finals this summer.

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The Real Madrid midfielder denied that players were to receive bonuses of USD 526,000 if they win in Germany, the Sun newspaper reported on Thursday. "For a start we won't get USD 526,000. We're getting a lot less than that and we're getting less than we did for the 2002 World Cup," said Beckham.

"But there is money in football and players are given bonuses. That's the way it is.

"I'm the England captain and I know for a fact every single player in that team would play for their country for nothing. The bonues are, well, a bonus for us."

England lost to Argentina at the last 16 stage of the 1998 World Cup, to Brazil in the quarter-finals in 2002 and to Portugal in the Euro 2004 last eight.

They will face Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden in Group B when the World Cup begins.