Captain and star of the English football team, David Beckham.

PHOTO - REUTERS

LONDON – As if World Cup glory and wads of cash were not enough, England players also have a romantic incentive to beat Denmark in the next round. The English Football Association (F.A.) is promising to fly out the 23-man squad‘s wives and girl-friends to Japan for a reunion if they win on Saturday and reach the quarter-finals. „It will have been a while since they parted, so it will raise their spirits,“ F.A. spokeswoman Bev Ward told Reuters. The English players have been cloistered in heavily guarded hotels for nearly a month now, their only contact with families through telephone calls. Some of the partners are in Japan for the games, but most are still at home.

„I‘ve really missed him since he‘s been away and so have the children,“ England goalkeeper David Seaman‘s wife Debbie said. Captain David Beckham‘s celebrity wife, pop star Victoria Beckham, is six months pregnant and plans to consult a doctor before deciding whether she would fly out if England win. As well as the family visit, the English players will also take their total bonus payments to Ł2.3 million if they beat Denmark on Saturday, according to British media. With England safely past the so-called „Group of Death“ – and arch-rivals Argentina heading home after their shock exit – British media are having a field-day. Wednesday‘s offerings included a doctored photo in the Daily Mirror of five Argentinian players clu-tching handbags as they formed a wall, under the headline: „Argentina Tragedy … Don‘t Forget To Pack Your Handbags, Dears.“ The Sun ran a piece on a cow named „Becky“ with a marking on its head in the form of a No. 7, the number of Beckham‘s shirt. „Let‘s just hope we won‘t be waiting till the cows come home to lift the World Cup again,“ said the five-month-old Friesian‘s owner, dairy farmer Colin Fry. Reuters