In this week’s wacky Offbeat column, Ronaldo and Irina Shayk watch basketball together, Steven Gerrard doesn’t want WAG ‘distractions’ at the World Cup and Ozil joins the Great Gatsby party with his girlfriend, Mandy Capristo.
Ahead of England’s World Cup campaign in Brazil this June, captain Steven Gerrard has admitted that he does not welcome the ‘WAG’ circus to town.
Although manager Roy Hodgson is allowing his players’ wives and girlfriends to join the 23-man squad at their base, the Liverpool star has claimed they are big distractions.
Instead, he would prefer for his wife Alex Curran, 31, and two daughters to stay at home in England during the showpiece tournament.
“I thought it was bit of a distraction, so in 2010 when I set off for the World Cup in South Africa I preferred for my family to be away from me and I could focus on trying to get my form right. So I will doing the same again in Brazil,” said Gerrard, 33, in a recent interview.
His wife Curran, who is a model and fashion columnist, is a notable part of the England ‘WAG’ group which is also made up of Coleen Rooney and formerly, Victoria Beckham.
The pair (seen above when Gerrard was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool’s John Moores university) married in 2007.
The group made headlines at the 2006 World Cup in Germany when they made drunken scenes in the quiet town of Baden Baden.
Gerrard, however, maintained that his focus was doing well with England and getting into the right emotional shape with them at their training camp in Brazil.
“Usually the day you get to see (your family) is a day after a game – and that is when you are at your most tired,” he said.
“The last thing I want to be doing is getting dragged here, there and everywhere by three young girls (his wife and daughter) – which is not their fault, but I have to sacrifice that side of it for hopefully six weeks or eight weeks and hopefully get the rewards,” he said.
Gerrad plans to communicate with his family over the phone and via Skype during the tournament. He said: “That is enough for me in that short space time. I felt that helped me in 2010 and hopefully it will be the same in Brazil.”
Russian model Irina Shayk did what every supportive ‘WAG’ would do during el clasico week – turn up in full support for her beau!
Shayk, 28, was seen with Ronaldo last week while they both watched the basketball game between Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow last Tuesday.
Later, Shayk was spotted in the VIP stands of the Bernabeu enjoying the game and clapping when Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot.
Mesut Ozil’s first season at Arsenal has been a series of ups and downs, but the German midfielder has accustomed well to life in England.
He was recently seen snapping photographs of his girlfriend, singer Mandy Capristo outside their home in London.
And after the squad’s humiliating 6-0 defeat in the hands Chelsea last week, Ozil was clearly adamant on putting his work troubles behind him.
Pictures emerged on Monday evening showing Ozil with club stars Nicklas Bendtner and Bacary Sagna, enjoying a ‘Great Gatsby’ themed birthday party to celebrate Capristo’s 24th birthday.
Capristo, a popular German singer, posted the picture above on Instagram with the caption ‘Unforgettable evening #thegracegatsby’, based on her middle named Grace.
Ozil, who later cross posted the picture on his Facebook page, received a slew of criticism from furious Arsenal fans, who rendered it ‘tasteless’ after the loss.
One of the comments read: “Nice to see someone is having fun after we lost 6 nil. I would recommend whoever you pay to manage your social media takes a break for a while ! And if you do it yourself you need a better advisor!!!”
