It must be the greatest moment of your footballing career being able to step out at the World Cup representing your country. You stand there with your hand on your heart belting out your national anthem alongside your teammates, coaches and fans.
Call me old fashioned but I assumed that players playing in the World Cup would not be paid vast sums of money for the privilege of playing in the greatest spectacle in world football. How wrong I was.
Players representing their country at the World Cup stand to make some pretty healthy amounts of cash. The Germans have been guaranteed roughly £80,000 each if they reach the semi-finals, which increases to about £120,000 if they reach the final and a whopping £240,000 if they actually win the tournament. Spain reputedly had the highest bonuses ever offered to a national football team (not that it helped) and the Chilean team were promised a share of the prize money for winning the World Cup (the winning FA receives £20million)
Add this to the controversies surrounding Nigeria and Ghana it is extremely refreshing to see how the Greek players have handled their bonuses.
With the Greek team now in the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time in their history they have made a decision as a squad to forgo their bonuses and instead request that the Prime Minister of Greece commit to building a new national football complex for the national teams and youth teams. It is hardly a donation to charity or to the people of Greece, but it is a nice touch from a football squad that are on a high and want to help the future of football in Greece.
