Sunday 27 November 2022 10:53 AM ALEXANDRA SHULMAN'S NOTEBOOK: The big issue in Qatar: Just what is in the WAGs' ... trends now
Due to a general lack of interest in football, I still have no idea what is happening on the pitch in the World Cup. No matter. The fact that I generally have to enquire which end we are meant to be attacking and which team is wearing which colour benchmarks my ignorance. But, like the majority of the country, I have contracted World Cup fever.
This has very little to do with the sport and skill or otherwise displayed but the splendid general entertainment value.
At a time when there is relentless downbeat news coming from every corner, the football – despite being controversially hosted in Qatar – has come along as a mightily welcome distraction.
Kicking off with the trolleys of luggage the English Wags displayed flying into Qatar, (indicating, incidentally, they don’t yet know that truly chic travellers send it all on ahead by courier), rather than the team’s first game against Iran, there has been endless riveting stuff to follow.
Kicking off with the trolleys of luggage the English Wags displayed flying into Qatar, rather than the team’s first game against Iran, there has been endless riveting stuff to follow (pictured: Jack Grealish's girlfriend Sasha Attwood at Manchester Airport
How different does Gareth Southgate appear without his trademark waistcoat? Is his spurning of that extra layer in Doha’s heat going to bring bad luck? Why is it that so many team managers are extraordinarily good-looking? Do footballers pay such attention to their hairdos because they see inevitable baldness beckoning in the shape of Alan Shearer and Vincent Kompany? So many questions…
ALEXANDRA SHULMAN: Due to a general lack of interest in football, I still have no idea what is happening on the pitch in the World Cup. No matter
Not wishing to be at all flippant, the controversy over appointing Qatar as hosts only adds to the richness of the story, while the mixture of celebrity status and well-intentioned activism is providing as many stories as the goal score. Could Harry Kane have fought against the rainbow armband removal? Can David Beckham really justify his multi-million- pound remuneration for cheerfully popping up in every corner of the country in an attempt to make the place’s civil rights records appear more palatable?
And that’s before the Wags, who can usually be relied upon to add to the general gaiety of the thing, have had an opportunity to strut their stuff.
We have yet to see what’s inside all those expensive Rimowa aluminium wheelies. So far the gang have conformed to the stadium rules of no shorts or skimpy tops to watch the match, but can we hope for some fabulous Wag fashion moments when they’re allowed to meet their lads after the group games? Or will they cover up in deference to
