Photos of ciggie puffing England WC stars, WAGs shock fans

LONDON - Fans of the England World Cup stars have reacted with shock to photographs of Wayne Rooney, 24, Aaron Lennon, 23, and Ashley Cole, 29, puffing cigarettes and cigars.

At least two other England players are known to like a smoke. Defender Wayne Bridge, 29, who did not go to South Africa, likes a sneaky drag as does cigar-loving David Beckham, 35.

According to the Daily Star, the players are not the only ones to indulge in an occasional fag, the WAGS - like Victoria Beckham, 36, Steven Gerrard’s wife Alex, 27, and Peter Crouch’s girlfriend Abbey Clancy, 24, have all been seen dragging on cigarettes.

Medical experts said smoking can make all the difference in the thin line between success and failure at the highest level.

Professor John Britton, Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, said: “Elite runners would not dream of smoking. It would affect muscles and performance.”

“It is utterly bizarre for football clubs and national teams to employ nutritionists and other experts to look at various ways of making sure elite athletes are performing at their very peak, if at the same time the players are smoking. It’s madness to be smoking,” Britton added.

Rooney was recently spotted smoking both during a holiday in Las Vegas and then at the weekend outside Manchester’s Panacea bar during a party night that went on beyond 5 a.m. (ANI)