Sven-Goran Eriksson has suggested that he wasn’t prepared for the issues that WAGs caused during his time as England boss and has laid some of the blame at the stilettos of Victoria Beckham.
Eriksson’s final tournament as Three Lions manager at the 2006 World Cup in Germany was overshadowed by the presence of the WAGs, who famously danced drunkly on tables and racked up huge bar bills in Baden-Baden.
Among those present in the tiny spa town that summer was David Beckham’s wife Victoria. Eriksson recently admitted that the Spice Girl “didn’t make it easy” for England at the tournament due to the press attention she received.
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And speaking exclusively to Daily Star Sport, the former Three Lions manager has admitted that Victoria Beckham was probably the reason why the issue of WAGs was quite so big.
“Well, it’s difficult to understand why that [WAGs] was so big,” he tells us. “Probably because of Victoria Beckham maybe, I don’t know.
(Image: AFP)
“Most of the teams I knew at that time did the same. Sweden, for example, they always had their wives in another hotel close by. The manager decides whether they can have dinner together when it suits for the game or training or whatever.
“That became too big in England. I don’t know why. I don’t know how they do it today but at that time it was normal.”
Do you think England would have won something without the influence of WAGs? Let us know in the comments section below.
(Image: C. Uncle/FilmMagic)
(Image: C. Uncle/FilmMagic)
Pressed on whether he was prepared for how big the issue would become, Eriksson admits: “Probably not, but I didn’t suffer from that because I said to myself ‘Sven, don’t care about that.’ It has absolutely nothing to do with football.”
Victoria Beckham wasn’t the only WAG pictured out and about in Baden-Baden at the 2006 World Cup. Cheryl, Coleen Rooney, Abbey Clancy, Alex Curran, Elan Rivas and Vanessa Perroncel were also pictured during the tournament.
(Image: Mark Large/Daily Mail/REX/Shutterstock)
The antics of the WAGs at the tournament, which England crashed out of at the quarter-final stage, led to a strict clampdown on their presence by future Three Lions boss, Fabio Capello.
He restricted their visits to the England camp at the 2010 World Cup, comparing their influence to that of a virus.
Charming.
(Image: SWNS)
Sven-Göran Eriksson surprised fans at a Toshiba watchparty, after research found 45% of fans plan to watch this winter’s tournament on TV from home – with more than one in ten set to pick up a new TV ready for the football. See more @ToshibaTVEurope.
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