Wednesday 19 June 2002

He’s the most famous footballer on the planet, and now David Beckham will give TAB customers the chance to win back their money – on a losing bet.

It’s called the Beckham Bonus …if David Beckham scores the first goal in this Friday’s Brazil/England match, the TAB will refund all losing First Goal Scorer bets on the match.

TAB soccer bookie Kevin Romyn said the Brazil/England clash is the biggest match of the World Cup so far.

“We wanted to spice it up a little for punters so if Beckham scores the first goal, all losing First Goal Scorer bets will be refunded. We’re having a fantastic World Cup and we wanted to give something back to losing punters,” he said

Brazilian superstar Rivaldo and England striker Michael Owen are joint $5 favourites to score the first goal in the match. Ronaldo is paying $6 while Beckham is paying $10.

- The odds on Brazil winning the World Cup have shortened following Italy’s loss to Korea last night. Brazil has moved from $3.50 to $2.75 in the Tournament Winner book. Spain are second favourites at $4.50 while England and Germany are paying $5.

- Those punters who backed four of the final eight teams before the competition will be smiling. Korea, Turkey, the USA and Senegal were all paying $100 or more to win the World Cup at the start of the tournament.

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