Wayne Rooney has announced that Coleen, his wife, will not be heading to South Africa with him to the South Africa World Cup after talking somewhat about the fact that in the past girlfriends and wives have been a distraction; a point of view shared by England captain Rio Ferdinand and manager Fabio Capello.
Rooney stated that if the players’ significant others want to come support them there is nothing in the way but it can be rough. He also stated that his wife just had a child so she would not be able to accompany him anyhow.
Last week Cappello got snappy when asked where the Wags’s would stay in South Africa stating that it is enough to ask that they stay away from the training ground. Earlier he stated that the Wags that choose to come along would have to deal with only getting to see the squad on a weekly basis.
He added that the team is headed to South Africa to play and not on a holiday basis and that if the Wags are not happy with the one day visit they should stay in England.
He also bristled when asked if the Wags had disrupted England at the last Germany World Cup, responding that their presence was somewhat like a virus.
Ferdinand also has negative memories of the 2008 World Cup when the Wags stayed at the same hotel describing the situation as a circus with the publicity centred on the Wags and the football aspect of the event becoming a sideshow.