AS EUROPE'S BIGGEST FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT KICKS OFF SARA AND ILKAY GUNDOGAN THE MODEL ON SUPPORTING THE GERMANY CAPTAIN AND WHAT MAKES THEM THE PERFECT MATCH

As football fever grips Europe, Sara Gundogan is more invested than most: she will be cheering from the stands as husband Ilkay represents his country in the 2024 Uefa European Football Championship in Germany.

- ROSALIND POWELL

For the past two years, the TV presenter and model, who grew up in Italy, has been happy to stay out of the spotlight as the footballer’s career has taken him around the world, from captain of Manchester City to midfielder for Barcelona, alongside leading the German national team.

“Competitions like these bring people together,” says Sara, 28, who will watch Germany’s opening match, against Scotland in Munich, alongside her Italian parents and Turkish in-laws. “I love seeing everyone singing the national anthem and cheering for their country.”

Ilkay, who is of Turkish heritage but was born in Germany, is excited, too. “I’m really looking forward to the tournament,” he tells us. “The fact that I can lead my team onto the pitch as captain in my own country makes it even more special and I am very proud of that. I can hardly wait for it to finally start.

“We have big plans in front of our fans. Not many players get the privilege to play such a huge tournament at home.”

HOME DRAW

After the Scotland match, Sara will return to Barcelona, the family’s home for the past year, with their one-year-old son Kais.

Glitzy nights out on the town, once de rigueur for footballers’ spouses during major tournaments, appear to be a thing of the past; it was in Germany at the 2006 Fifa World Cup when the term WAG (wives and girlfriends) came into common use as Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Cole and Coleen Rooney stole column inches from the players’ performances on the pitch.

But Sara struggles with the persistent stereotype of footballers’ partners as being nothing more than glittering trophies.

“You never read anything positive, only what they’re wearing, where they go and that they don’t work. There’s this idea that someone has just got lucky.