The Manchester United World Cup WAGS

So much transfer gossip, so many rumors, who’s coming in, who’s going where, it can all get too much. We then had the daily speculation as to who will make the “23” and who will be left behind until England manager Fabio Capello mercifully put everyone out of their collective misery by finally announcing his squad. So let’s try having a look at something entirely different and consider the Manchester United WAGs who may or may not be accompanying their partners to South Africa. A little eye candy if you like.

Before we look at the current Wives and Girlfriends however, check this group circa 1966 (left). No idea which players they partnered but we do know that they must have spent the next few years polishing World Cup Winners medals, a chore that their 2010 counterparts have no guarantee of ever having to do.

Captain WAG must obviously be Rebecca Ellison Ferdinand (right), wife of England skipper Rio purely because of the position he holds in the team. Rebecca 26, seems to have nothing in common with the other WAGs apart that is, from a willingness to turn a blind eye

Ellison stayed with Ferdinand after his five year affair with an air stewardess was exposed and last year, she accepted his marriage proposal in Las Vegas. She is a former accountant who is now a fulltime mum to sons Tate one, and Lorenz four. Ellison plans to stay home during the tournament cheering Rio on television.

The best known WAG is possibly Wayne’s wife Coleen (left) who must surely be the Queen Wag. The couple were raised in Croxteth, a suburb of Liverpool where they met aged 12 before beginning a romantic relationship at 16. A year later the star proposed to Coleen at the super glamorous location of a BP garage and got married in Italy in 2008.

Coleen and Wayne live with baby Kai in a £3.5 million mansion in Cheshire. Coleen has a burgeoning media career working as a fashion columnist and TV presenter. As the wife of England‘s star asset she will find herself the centre of attention in South Africa but at this stage only plans to fly out if team reach the semi finals.

The third member of the United WAG team is Lisa Roughead (right) who is married to Michael Carrick. Blonde and slender Lisa, 25, is probably too down to earth to be a proper WAG. Being a Pilates instructor she rather bucks the trend. Lisa also did not sell their £250,000 wedding last year to a celebrity magazine which really is not playing the game.

She met her future husband when they were both at Burnside Community High School in Wallsend. She has since gained a business degree and is considered to be one of the brainiest WAGs. Lisa plans to watch Michael playing in the World Cup at home with two year old daughter Louise.

Apart from those three England WAGS there’s not a lot of information to be found about the others Manchester United partners. Serbia central defender Nemanja Vidic is married to Ana Ivanovic Vidic (left) and have a son named Luka. She was an Economics student at the University of Belgrade when she got married. Her only claim to fame is that she has exactly the same name as a Serbian tennis star.

France captain Patrice Evra is married to Sandra (right) and together with son Lenny live in Manchester which she apparently is not very fond of. Evra has admitted in the past that moving from Monaco in the South of France to the North West of England was very hard on both Sandra and Lenny mainly because the weather.

It may come as a surprise to some but in the opinion of education experts WAGs are not simply airheads who enjoy spending their partner’s enormous wages in expensive boutiques. In fact they almost all have decent qualifications to fall back on and are usually far better educated than their other halves. They are also considered to be good role models for young women who should look up to them if they want to get on in life.

So there you have it guys. These girls are not only easy on the eye, most have a pretty smart brain as well. It may be one of the major reasons why players like Wayne Rooney has managed to mature so well since settling down with Colleen. It also raises the question of how much more devastating can Cristiano Ronaldo become on the pitch if he followed Rooney’s example off it.

Is it wise for partners to accompany the players to the World Cup?