Crunch time for footballers' wives

The burning issue of the day is whether a woman's place should be at her man's side during the World Cup tournament.

Sven-Goran Eriksson believes that flying the England squad's wives and partners to Japan 24 hours before the showdown with Brazil on Friday will lift player morale. But former England manager Graham Taylor is warning that it could well disrupt concentration.

Today it remains unclear if the players will meet their partners before the match. Although they will not be staying in the same hotel as the squad, the women will be close by at Shizuoka.

An FA source told the Standard that Eriksson had decided to bring them out as a morale booster to the team, who will have been away for six weeks by this weekend.

But even if the women are barred from seeing their men until after the final whistle, it may prove equally distracting knowing that their wives are nearby. Taylor warned: "A holiday atmosphere can unintentionally disrupt the mindset of why everyone is in Japan and re-focusing is sometimes harder to achieve than focusing in the first place."

There is also a worrying precedent. After England came through their group in France '98, the FA flew wives and girlfriends out to join the team for a romantic weekend. The team then crashed out to Argentina in the second round.

Brazil - whose players have theoretically remained celibate - today laughed off England's decision. The South Americans have chosen to be apart from their partners until they return to Rio, which they hope will be after the 30 June final. Defender Gilberto Silva, who with the rest of the squad left Brazil on 6 May, said: "No women, man - only football."

And Brazil team official Jean-Pierre Frankenhuis said: "It is good that the English are bringing in their wives. We hope they will sufficiently tire them out before the match. We made a decision that we have come here to win the World Cup and nothing must take our focus away from it. Winning the World Cup is the highest honour in football and they believe it is worth spending that time on their own." However, following their 2-0 defeat of Belgium yesterday, the Brazilian players were allowed to hit town until 6am.

Meanwhile, David Beckham has installed a web camera at his Hertfordshire home so he can see his wife Victoria and son Brooklyn each day via the internet. Victoria, who is seven months pregnant, has been advised not to travel.