The stunning model WAG of former Premier League striker Pavel Pogrebnyak has confessed that she had to attend a finishing school to win over the footballer as a teenager.
Russian model Maria Pogrebnyak-Shatalova, 30, shared her fascinating love story with her 910,000 Instagram followers.
The blonde belter said that she first got to know the former Fulham and Reading star at high school, even though he was three grades above her.
She said: “We were just friends then and I did not want anything more.
However, as she blossomed into a pretty teen she admitted that she “became jealous because I was considered one of the cool girls and fun to be with, I wondered how the boys could possibly be interested in anyone else”.
One summer, the model “decided to start taking care of myself and signed up for a finishing school where they taught me how to act like a lady, walk in heels and even do proper makeup”.
When she started the new school term, the gorgeous mother-of-three said that the boys could not “take their eyes off” her while some said that she was unrecognisable to before.
However, her future husband played hard to get and his aloofness attracted her to him: “I knew that he liked me, but he did not show it in any way.”
Pogrebnyak later admitted that it was his strategy to win the blonde stunner over and by the time he showed her interest, the leggy blonde was already madly in love with him.
The now-married couple embarked on a loving relationship that has gifted them with three sons, Artem, Pavel and Alexey.
Pogrebnyak moved to Premier League side Fulham in January 2012 and became the quickest player to score five goals in Premier League history, reaching the milestone in just three matches.
He went on to sign for Reading, where he scored 24 goals in 93 matches.
Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
