'Paul Gascoigne was dripping with sweat'... Icon reveals hilarious thing he caught 'Gazza' doing before an England match

EXCLUSIVE: Paul Gascoigne left a fellow England international stunned with what he’d been up to right before a massive match.

In his career, ‘Gazza’ won the hearts of fans around the world, with not just his ability on the pitch, but also his remarkable charisma.

Paul Gascoigne stunned Des Walker by playing squash before an England match

Blessed with sensational dribbling skills, tremendous vision and a sublime footballing IQ, Paul Gascoigne was a truly tremendous player. And while some England stars needed to be 100% locked in before a major game, the superstar had other ways of preparing, with the gifted athlete leaving Des Walker perplexed with what he’d been doing right before ‘The Three Lions’ went into battle.

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During an exclusive interview with Sporf via World Cup Betting, the 60-year-old reminisced: “We were playing in Wembley, I think it was the last qualifier for the World Cup. I came down at 5 PM for tea and toast, which you had just before you left. As I’m walking down the hallway at the hotel in Slough, Gazza is walking past me, and he’s dripping with sweat. The game was at 8 PM, and I was like, ‘What have you been doing’? He replied, ‘Why aye, I’ve been playing squash’. I said, ‘What have you been playing squash for’? Gazza answered, ‘Some Americans, they thought they were better than me, I just took them on and beat them by five sets’.

“He played five sets of squash right before we were playing at Wembley to qualify for the World Cup. But when he gets on the pitch, he’s the best player. The worst thing you can do with Gazza is lock him in his room. You’ve just got to let Gazza be Gazza and hold him to his performance. Invariably, he’d prove you wrong because he was such a talented player. People sometimes question his fitness, but he was one of the fittest I’ve ever seen. He was strong and nasty; he was an all-round footballer. Only Gazza could stop Gazza being great.”