Footballers' wives fly out for England

The England team have a new incentive to succeed in the World Cup - their wives and girlfriends will be flown out to join them.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's players have not seen their partners since they went on a warm-up trip to Dubai together five weeks ago.

But if the team beat Denmark on Saturday the women will be flown out before the quarter-final, probably against Brazil, the following Friday.

Paul Scholes, Robbie Fowler, David Seaman, David James, Michael Owen, Gareth Southgate, Martin Keown and Nigel Martin are all expected to take the FA up on the offer - their partners joining them from next week and staying for as long as England stay in the World Cup.

Captain David Beckham, however, will not be celebrating the news. His wife Victoria is nearly seven months pregnant with their second child and is not expected to travel.

The FA officially refused to discuss the situation today but a source admitted that advance plans were in place to fly the women out.

"We don't want the sort of circus developing around the players' partners that has been seen in the past, but yes, there are moves afoot to bring them out if we get through to the quarter finals," said a source.

It was unclear yet how much time alone with the players the wives would get or even if they would be based at the same hotel - the Westin on the resort island of Awaji.

Beckham has been keeping in touch with his wife Victoria and three-year-old son Brooklyn by telephone since they flew back to England.

Meanwhile, England fans in Japan today begin the hunt for precious tickets to the team's knockout game against Denmark on Saturday.

For the 8,000 or more fans already in the Far East to see David Beckham and his team, getting one of the precious seats for the World Cup second round clash comes down to whether you are a "have" or a "have not".

Beckenham estate agent Scott Pattenden, 23, is definitely a "have not".

"I'm praying for a ticket for the Denmark game," he said. "I've bought tickets to all three games so far on the black market, for about £300 each.

"I entered the official Fifa draw for tickets with my friend. He won and I didn't - the difference that makes financially is gigantic.

"I reckon if England get to all the way to the final, a ticket for just that game is going to cost me at least £2,000. I could end up in massive debt."

He has bought a Japanese mobile phone to help him in his hunt for tickets.

"I've been networking like mad, trying to get tickets at less than the going rate with touts - they're charging over £500 now."

Others - members of the Football Association's England fans club - had a considerably easier experience today.

"We had to queue for about 15 minutes to get in but after that it only took about 30 seconds to get our Denmark tickets," said IT worker Katherine Dench, 27.

"They gave us smart cards when we applied which means that each round England get through from now on we automatically receive tickets for - all the way to the final," added her boyfriend, engineer Matthew Dean, also 27.

"We get a refund if the team get knocked out."

The couple are still devotedly cheering England but would benefit in one way should Denmark achieve the unthinkable and put Sven-Goran Eriksson's side out of the tournament.

"We're already about £500 over our budget for the entire trip so goodness knows what our financial situation's going to be like if we do go to the final," Mr Dean said.

The cost is even more of a concern for fellow Englandfan members Craig Dowie, 32, and Sheila Wiliams, 33, from Primrose Hill.

"We could only get tickets for the most expensive seats - it was that or nothing," said Ms Williams.

"The face value on the Denmark tickets we've just picked up is £170 which is a fortune for a single game. And the cost goes up with each new round."

Meanwhile there is still hope for those England fans who do not have tickets. Fifa announced today that it is giving the FA an option on 1,000 additional seats for the Denmark match - but it is unclear whether the FA is going to accept the deal.

"We're still looking into it," said a spokesman.

Should they refuse - which they may feel they have to because of the problems of vetting fans at short notice - the tickets will be offered for sale to the public in Japan.

This would almost certainly see them going to the Japanese - previous ticket issues of this kind have been so oversubscribed that only one in every 50,000 callers was successful and at one point the country's mobile phone network crashed.

Thousands of England supporters are expected to rush out to Japan if England beat Denmark, for the likely quarterfinal encounter with Brazil on Friday next week.

"There simply wasn't enough time between the draw against Nigeria and the Denmark game for people in England to rush out here," said a Home Office spokeswoman. "But we believe that many people are already drawing up plans to come out here if England make it to the quarter finals."

? The England squad has sent a sympathy card to the family of Philip Govier, 17, of Hoxne, Norfolk, who died recently in a freak cricket accident.

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