Newspapers report breathlessly on their outfits, shopping outings, drinking sprees, dinner reservations and competitive habits. The women have won over a press that remains skeptical after England's tepid 1-0 win over Paraguay on Saturday.

"They have the stamina and spending power that showed England have a team to take on the world -in shopping," The Daily Telegraph said Tuesday.

Joanne,David Beckham's sister.[filephoto]

The WAGS found themselves in the middle of a spat Tuesday between British and German tabloids. German newspaper Bild branded David Beckham's sister, Joanne, "fat" and said his mother, Sandra, had the smile of a peasant.

"How dare the Germans attack Becks' birds?" The Sun splashed across its front page, with a picture of Beckham's wife, Victoria, labeled "The Beaut," next to a portly, lederhosen-clad German bar maid called "Das Boot."

Baden-Baden, a small German spa town in the western foothills of the Black Forest, is more accustomed to retirees who flock there for its natural spas and Wagner music festival. It has never quite seen anything like these ladies before.

"We have President Clinton here and Bono, but I don't think they made as big a stir as these girls," shop owner Monica Scholz said in the Daily Mirror. "I hope England play well so they will stay longer."

Scholz's boutique was one of many the WAGS swept through Monday, dropping up to 5,000 pounds (US$9,198; euro7,314) on designer sunglasses, shoes, and clothes.

Coleen McLoughlin, Wayne Rooney's girlfriend and renowned shopaholic, spent 900 pounds (US$1,657; euro1,316) in 10 minutes on Gucci, Dior, and Dolce and Gabbana shoes, shirts, and blouses, the papers reported.

Wayne Rooney's fiancee Coleen McLoughlin sits in the stands in Frankfurt.[Reuters]

The WAGS are staying at the euro1,375-(US$1,728)-a night Brenners Park Hotel. Once a summer retreat for Parisian aristocracy and boasting guests such as the Dalai Lama, Walt Disney and a maharaja, the hotel has had to make special orders of "fake bake," a brown tanning lotion.

"It's something very special in England," Frank Marrenbach, the director of the hotel, said. "We don't have it in Germany."

McLoughlin and Alex Curran, Steven Gerrard's girlfriend, have even brought their own fake tan specialists with them, according to the Sunday Times.

Behind closed doors, one upsmanship between the WAGS is reportedly rife, with "competitive sleeping" replacing the latest designer bikini as the latest must-do. Personal trainer Carly Zucker, Joe Cole's girlfriend, recommended a minimum of eight hours sleep to the group to help stave off wrinkles, according to women's magazine GRAZIA.

Out on the town, the WAGS have been living up to Britain's reputation for hard partying.

At the Medici restaurant on Monday night, the women reportedly dished out over euro1,000 (US$1,259) on pink champagne, cognac and large whiskey and colas.

According to The Sun, McLoughlin then led around 10 WAGS, including her mother Collette, to the Garibaldi Bar where they danced on tables until 4 a.m.