Spain play blame game as WAG Watch reveals a shock contender for glory in South Africa.
WAG Carbonero blamed for Spain defeat; South Korea on the march; hosts are out
Spain's shock defeat to Switzerland on Wednesday stunned the football world and had coach Vicente del Bosque pondering whether he'd made a tactical boob in electing to go with David Villa as a lone front man.
However, at least according to some sections of the Spanish media, such tactical analysis only deflects from the real reason behind the pre-tournament favourites' demise: Blame WAG Sara Carbonero.
The television journalist, who is the partner of Spain 'keeper Iker Casillas, filmed footage behind her hubby's goal prior to Switzerland's shock 1-0 win.
Casillas hardly covered himself in glory for Gelson Fernandes' winner and his uncharacteristic error has led to accusations he had his mind on sights more alluring than burly Swiss strikers.
Fans have voiced their misgivings about Carbonero's presence in South Africa, but when quizzed if she was a distraction she countered: "Can I destabilise the team? I think it is nonsense."
After the game Carbonero was forced to conduct the most awkward of interviews with Casillas. Her first question was a classic: "How did you muck that up?" The excruciating stills from the interview have remarkably made the front page of
The Times.
A miserable day for Carbonero was compounded when she logged on to
skysports.com to discover her WAGs and Stags debut had ended in defeat too. Close to 8,000 votes had been lodged as Swiss duo Valon Behrami and Sara Tommasi stormed to a welcome three-point haul.
We want our WAGs
Ahead of Friday night's crunch clash between England and Algeria, which Clancy and Crouch are currently cruising 87% to 13%, the
Daily Star has issued a stark message to Mr Capello. 'We want our WAGs' is the headline as 'sources' close to the England camp reveal how the players are desperately missing their partners, in an article that was in no way devised as an excuse to get Abbey Clancy in a bikini strewn across the front page.
South Korea a force to be reckoned with
South Korea are defying the bookies' odds to emerge as genuine contenders to be crowned world champions on 11th July. Few gave rank outsiders Ahn Jung-Hwan/Lee Hye-won much of a prayer to progress from the group stage but having sprung a surprise over Greece (edging the contest 58% - 42%), the Asian duo are currently leading against much fancied Argentina with the clock ticking on the voting polls. Just eight per cent separates the two nations, with over 13,500 having voted to date. Are the South Koreans ready to claim the biggest upset in international football since Greece won the European Championship in 2004?
Heartache for hosts
Is that the sound of no vuvuzelas being blown? The sight of disheartened South Africans flooding out of the stadium as Uruguay made it 3-0 on Wednesday night was replicated as the WAGs and Stags tables were updated this morning. They made for grim reading for the hosts. Defeat to Uruguay preceded an opening day loss to Mexico, which means Matt Booth and his wife Sonia Bonneventia are now playing only for pride in their final group game against France. A sad day for South African sport.
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