David Beckham: Minimum Wage Man of the People

Pity poor David Beckham and his English teammates who will reportedly be making less money to play for their national team in this year’s World Cup than they did in 2002.

In denying reports that players would receive a 300,000 pound bonus if they walk away champions, Beckham said:

“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 bonuses are, well, a bonus for us.”

This is a lovely sentiment from Becks and one that has almost become firmly established in the lexicon of the sporting world. But just once I would like to see a football federation offer its players this option. Methinks the players might not be so keen on the idea.

Even better, how about the English players donate their World Cup salaries to people in need, like Trinidad’s national team which is trying to scrape together $9 million so that it can adequately prepare for its first World Cup appearance?