In an extraordinarily candid assessment of past failures and disappointments, Rio Ferdinand said yesterday that Fabio Capello had ended the "circus" that had blighted England's recent attempts to win a major trophy and launched an impassioned attack on the culture of WAGs (wives and girlfriends) that detracted from the last World Cup campaign.
The central defender, who, in the continued absence of the injured John Terry, will captain his country again this evening here in Belarus, praised Capello's "business-like approach" and admitted that this had been missing in the past when England had lacked professionalism to such an extent that the football became secondary.
Responding to a question about the failings of the team in past campaigns, Ferdinand said: "I think we got caught up in the whole... we became a bit of a celebrity in terms of the whole WAG situation. There was a big show around the whole England squad. It was like a theatre unfolding and football became a secondary element."
It was perhaps apt then that he was speaking in the Palace of the Republic here, Minsk's main concert hall, when he added: "People were worrying more about what people were wearing than the games. This regime is very watertight. If I'm honest, it feels as if we're going in the right direction.
"You can see we're at the start of something," he said, "and, hopefully, there'll be bigger rewards than what we've had in the past. That's said in hindsight."
Ferdinand recalled the regime and atmosphere in Germany in 2006. "We were in the bubble ourselves," the 29-year-old admitted. "In Baden-Baden [England's training base], walking around, there were paparazzi everywhere, our families were there. Looking back, it was like a circus.
"As a squad, we were a bit too open, going out in and around Baden-Baden, probably had too much contact with families. That's just my opinion. You're in a tournament and you don't get many tournaments in your career. You have to be focused. Not just the WAGs, but families being really close, us being close to you guys [the media], the paparazzi situation... it wasn't really separated from the football."
The central defender, who, in the continued absence of the injured John Terry, will captain his country again this evening here in Belarus, praised Capello's "business-like approach" and admitted that this had been missing in the past when England had lacked professionalism to such an extent that the football became secondary.
Responding to a question about the failings of the team in past campaigns, Ferdinand said: "I think we got caught up in the whole... we became a bit of a celebrity in terms of the whole WAG situation. There was a big show around the whole England squad. It was like a theatre unfolding and football became a secondary element."
It was perhaps apt then that he was speaking in the Palace of the Republic here, Minsk's main concert hall, when he added: "People were worrying more about what people were wearing than the games. This regime is very watertight. If I'm honest, it feels as if we're going in the right direction.
"You can see we're at the start of something," he said, "and, hopefully, there'll be bigger rewards than what we've had in the past. That's said in hindsight."
Ferdinand recalled the regime and atmosphere in Germany in 2006. "We were in the bubble ourselves," the 29-year-old admitted. "In Baden-Baden [England's training base], walking around, there were paparazzi everywhere, our families were there. Looking back, it was like a circus.
"As a squad, we were a bit too open, going out in and around Baden-Baden, probably had too much contact with families. That's just my opinion. You're in a tournament and you don't get many tournaments in your career. You have to be focused. Not just the WAGs, but families being really close, us being close to you guys [the media], the paparazzi situation... it wasn't really separated from the football."
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