World Cup Portraits
PHOTOGRAPHS © MONIKA FISCHER/MATHIAS BRASCHLER
My friend Andy Tepper writes in Vanity Fair:
Has there ever been a greater stage for athletic heroics than the World Cup? Has there ever been a more improbable game face than the one worn by Ronaldinho [above], the wizard-like Brazilian midfielder who exudes an impish glee with every backheel, pirouette, and sleight-of-foot he performs? Then again, he’s Brazilian (did I mention that yet?)—and soccer, for him, is less a battle of wills than a fantasy, an artful dance meant to bewitch defenders. But just take a look at some of the other faces of this year’s standout performers—slack-jawed, grim, wide-eyed, and anxious, taken moments after recent matches—and you can begin to feel the tension and sweat of “the beautiful game.” (Though David Beckham, admittedly, remains as stylish as ever.) VF.com gathers these portraits of 15 international stars from the new book Faces of Football (Art Books International), by Monika Fischer and Mathias Braschler, as World Cup 2006 kicks into high gear.
