The stadiums are built, the Gautrain is set to roll, bridges are complete and the airports brand spanking new. Yes, the long awaited football fiesta is upon us, and with it comes the ubiquitous talk about the WAGS.Rooney? You mean Colleen? My son would not find it amusing, but for some, the real interest surrounding the football is what the wives and girlfriends get up to. Wives and Girlfriends – WAGS. Alison Kervin, who was Chief Sports Interviewer of The Daily Telegraph newspaper in the UK, knows this all too well, so she wrote a book aptly titled WAGS at the World Cup. Perfectly timed, we think.In the UK, there’s lots of talk about WAGS, they are celebrities in their own right and pepper the pages of the gossip magazines weekly. Here in South Africa, however, we are not as familiar with the concept, though as ever, we are open to persuasion.WAGS at the World Cup will guide us ...This is where the “frothy, funny and unputdownable” (according to Glamour magazine) WAGS at the World Cup comes in to guide us. Firstly, Alison Kervin seems to be the expert on the subject of WAGS, having penned A Wag’s Diary and A Wag Abroad. Here, she ties in the bang-on-topic World Cup in South Africa, and introduces Tracie Martin, who she calls “the ultimate WAG”, into the mix.It seems that Tracie has a knack for ending up in the papers for all the wrong reasons, and there’s something about her having to deal with an evil crime syndicate that is threatening to ruin England’s chances of winning the ultimate trophy.South African Daily News?As if it has to be said: this is really just a bit of a laugh and not to be taken seriously, but given its topicality, it’s quite cute to read about Rustenberg, autumn in Cape Town (they arrive in SA mid-May) and an article in the South African Daily News.Without giving away too much, considering the real-life cricket match-fixing that’s gone on, is it a far stretch to imagine it could also happen in football?Alison Kervin throws it out there, and puts heroine, WAG Tracie Martin, at the centre of it all. Who will win the World Cup? And will Tracie get those silver Louboutin boots she’s after? You’ll have to read the book. No doubt over the coming month you’ll have time.I has the GEES!
