Sven-Goran Eriksson has taken a pop at the likes of Victoria Beckham and Cheryl for making things at the 2006 World Cup rather difficult.
The former England manager, 74, admits that the WAGs of the squad which included David Beckham, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney were at the centre of the hype.
However, Sven and the Football Association (FA) had already come up with a plan before the games kicked off, hoping to keep the WAGs purposely entertained throughout the tournament.
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Despite being hundreds of miles away from home and missing their other halves, the FA didn’t want them to sit around a luxury hotel pool every day so made plans for them.
(Image: Getty Images)
Speaking to Boyle Sports World Cup, Sven said: “One of the wives [at the World Cup] was Victoria Beckham and of course, that didn’t make it easier, it made it fantastic for the press.
“But all the other countries, Sweden for example, I knew exactly what they did with their wives and so on.
“I don’t think any Swedish paper ever talked about it because it’s natural and I think most of the teams were doing that.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Sven added: “We saw the wives maybe once a week at dinner and I decided when that should be.
“The rest of the days of course the wives were invited here and there and the FA helped them not to be sat in a hotel, bored, and I think that was great.”
He continued: “Whatever they did it was a scandal.
“If they went to a bar, if they went to a restaurant if they went out shopping, they were [doing] totally normal things – I found the reaction a little bit unhelpful.”
(Image: Daily Mirror)
During the tournament, the crew relaxed in the spa town of Baden-Baden which later became famous thanks to the wild antics of the wives and girlfriends of the players.
Throughout the trip, the other halves were known for dancing on the tables in bars as well as racking up huge bills after their lavish celebrations.
(Image: AFP)
However, it appears that the WAGs and their other halves have now recognised that things went a bit too far with David Beckham previously stating Victoria often says “it went a bit too far”.
The former Manchester United ace said: “There was more spoken about the WAGs than the football.
“At that time, for the players, you want to focus on the tournament rather than anything else.”
Nowadays, the new line of WAGs including Fern Maguire, Annie Kilner and Rebecca Cooke live a much quieter life compared to their predecessors.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
