The former Tottenham Hotspur ace thinks he performed well when he represented his country in tournaments because then-manager Bobby Robson kept as many distractions as possible away from his squad.

Asked why he played his best in tournaments, he told FourFourTwo magazine: “Because we didn’t invite the wives! At some World Cups, the wives have had more publicity than the players and that’s not right.

“The players should just concentrate solely for one month or five weeks on the World Cup, that’s it.

“Bobby Robson wouldn’t even let us watch the TV, no newspapers, nothing.

“We were lucky to make a phone call back home to find out what was going on. We were only concentrating on the football.”

Asked if the lack of distractions helped, he added: “Yeah, because the players bonded.

“I remember all of us together around the pool, relaxing.”

Gazza isn’t convinced by England’s chances in next year’s World Cup

He said:” You’ve got France, Portugal, Germany, Brazil and Argentina.

“It’s going to be a hard task for England to win the World Cup – we have a chance like everyone else, but every player has got to be on it, you can’t afford to carry anybody.”