Sven Goran-Eriksson has insisted that former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham "didn't make it easy" for England at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The Swedish manager blamed the reaction to the global icon doing perfectly "normal" things for making things "unhelpful".
Although Eriksson did defend the WAGs’ appearance at the tournament, he cited the circus which follows them as being problematic. That summer was notorious for the headline-grabbing WAGS, with Victoria Beckham being singled out by Eriksson with regards to having a negative impact on the playing squad.
The now-74-year-old told Boyle Sports about how Posh Spice’s inclusion heightened the attention the WAGs received and how the FA would keep the footballers’ partners entertained. He said: “One of the wives was Victoria Beckham and of course that didn't make it easier, it made it fantastic for the press.
“We saw the wives maybe once a week at dinner and I decided when that should be, and 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. Whatever they did it was a scandal. If they went to a bar, if they went to a restaurant, if they went out shopping… [but] they were [doing] totally normal things.”
“I found the reaction a little bit unhelpful, but I don't think all of those players know what the English press is. The football press of course, but the other side of the press, I don't think they were that prepared for that."
On the pitch, England were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Portugal on penalties. Off it, the antics of the wives and girlfriends in and around the England camp’s base in Baden-Baden often became more important than the football.
This wasn’t the only time in his English managerial career that Victoria Beckham reportedly scuppered Eriksson’s plans. The 48-year is said to have turned down Eriksson’s offer for her husband David to play for Leicester City, as the Express reports.
