June 06, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 9, 1427

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BERLIN, June 5: Germany players have been handed a massive cash incentive to lift the World Cup on home soil with a record 300,000 euro bonus on offer for each player, the German Football Federation said Monday.

The amount is the biggest in German football history and is more than three times the 92,000 euro purse the team would have collected for winning the trophy four years ago. Germany lost 2-0 to Brazil in the final.

“It is fully justified. The national team is the main financial contributor to the German Football Federation (DFB) so all players should get their share,”said national coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Klinsmann, a World Cup winner with West Germany in 1990, will reportedly pick up a cool one million euros should Germany lift the trophy on July 9.

The bonus scheme does not start until the quarter-finals of the competition with German players picking up 50,000 euros for reaching the last eight.

That amount rises to 100,000 euros for a semi-final spot and 150,000 euros for reaching the final.

Germany open the World Cup on Friday against Costa Rica in Munich before taking on Poland on June 14 and Ecuador six days later.—Agencies