Vanity Fair June 2010 : Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba by Annie Leibovitz

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vanityfair.com

 

[cottonmouth13]

What the hell is this??!!?? Men's Health gone high society. So disappointed on the cover!

 

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The World Cup’s Stars Wear Their Flags—And Little Else—For Annie Leibovitz

In 38 days, it begins. The World Cup captivates more people around the globe than any other event, sporting or otherwise. Every four years, in pubs and corporate boardrooms, thatched huts and flophouses, fans of “the Beautiful Game” gather around televisions and transistor radios—and now, for the deep of pocket, iPhones and 3-D flat screens—to cheer for their heroes. They watch and listen by the billions, holding their breath at every corner kick, falling to their knees or leaping for joy at every goal scored. That this year’s tournament is in South Africa, where apartheid was the law of the land until 1994, only adds to the heightened sense of celebration—this is about a whole lot more than just soccer.

For the June issue of Vanity Fair, Annie Leibovitz set out to capture some of the sport’s biggest stars, including Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba, Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, and Brazil’s Kaká. Leibovitz’s portraits are, well, revealing. And underwear has never looked so patriotic. In America, these men might not enjoy the same name recognition as the stars of the N.F.L.—that game that we call football—but for most of the planet, they are more than just showstoppers. They are gods.

A. A. Gill, in his accompanying June-issue essay, captures just how important football (don’t you dare call it “soccer,” he warns) and the World Cup are to the 6.8 billion of us who live on Planet Earth. “Football took to the world pitch at about the same time as the modern independent nation-state,” Gill writes. “After a flag, a national anthem, and a press release decrying Yankee imperialism, the next thing newly minted nations do is build a stadium and come up with a national grudge match.”

Grudges old and new will be settled (or worsened) beginning on June 11, as South Africa opens the World Cup in Soweto against Mexico. Must-see games abound from there on, with England vs. U.S.A. (June 12) and most any matchup from the so-called Group of Death—Ivory Coast vs. Portugal (June 15), Brazil vs. Ivory Coast (June 20), Portugal vs. Brazil (June 25)—topping the list from the opening round.

You don’t have to be a footie fan to enjoy the tournament. (How many of you follow swimming when it’s not the Olympics and Michael Phelps?) To keep up with all the news and festivities, check in every day with our soccer football blog, Fair Play, which will be filing from South Africa . And as you’re watching and reading, remember the closing quote to Gill’s essay, from the great Scottish player and coach Bill Shankly: “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

vanityfair.com

 

[tentalicious]

Ronaldo and Drogba by Annie Leibovitz ... that made my day !

 

[tanii94]

Ronaldo is so overrated.

 

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twitter/fairplayvf

 

[Gary101]

Another Tiger Woods story...

 

[Handbag Queen]

Huh? Since when did Vanity Fair become Sports Illustrated lite????? Worst covers ever in 2010.

 

[jal718]

Vanity Fair has sucked all year but this is the worst!

 

[AriLove]

Ronaldo is so overrated.

Couldn't agree more! Such a bad cover

 

[Aja Mok]

ugly cover!! i hate that

 

[Bertrando3]

Huh? Since when did Vanity Fair become Sports Illustrated lite????? Worst covers ever in 2010.

I took the words out of my mouth lol this cover is dreckitude

 

[bones]

Ronaldo is such a butterface.

 

[Leeroi]

It would have been better if they weren't smiling so cheesily or something.... a closeup of some sort would have sufficed.

I haven't renewed my subscription in a year, thank God.

 

[rockangel]

WTF and this is fashion¿¿¿¿, this should not even be posted here, imo

 

[GinAndTonic]

oh my... The cover is so ridiculous it's funny !

 

[maxlinden]

Im over this cover not being fashionable..idk, i just want to PLOW them both so this is a great cover for me

 

[retailqueen]

Oh you guys behave.
Didier is the mmost awesomest person in the world and I wish he were everywhere, ven on Milk cartons.

But the exicution is very lazy and exposes yet again the limitations of Annie...

 

[alteclansing]

Does anyone else wish that Annie Leibovitz would stop doing all of the vanity fair/vogue covers? THEY ARE SO BORING.

 

[versustito]

Ugly cover