In the special issue covering the upcoming World Cup, Annie Leibovitz captures the hottest football stars in their undies which colors represent their respective flags.
- May 4, 2010
AceShowbiz - In celebration of the imminent World Cup season, Vanity Fair calls famous and hot footballers to grace the June pages. On the cover are Cristiano Ronaldo who is playing for Real Madrid/Portugal and Didier Drogba who is playing for Chelsea/Ivory Coast. Both flaunt their colors, and little else, for famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
The issue also presents Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan/Ghana), Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan/Cameroon), Alexandre Pato (A.C Milan/Brazil), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus/Italy), Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan/Serbia), Carlton Cole (West Ham United/England) and Michael Ballack (Chelsea/Germany) among others. Leibovitz traveled to Milan, London, Madrid and Brooklyn to capture them all in her lens.
The behind the scenes video sees Drogba pumping iron, KaKa bicycle-kicking a ball straight into the lens and Landon Donovan stripping down to his undies.
Writing the accompanying article is A. A. Gill who wrote, "Football took to the world pitch at about the same time as the modern independent nation-state. 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."
The 2010 World Cup kicks off June 11 in Soweto, South Africa. Meanwhile, a sneak peek at the photo spread is available at VanityFair.com.
