This is for all of you looking forward to the World Cup in just two weeks (it’s two weeks away, right?). Various international editions of Vogue have been pairing their country’s leading football players with models (Ronaldo with girlfriend Irina Shayk covering Vogue Spain, perchance?), and Brazil decided to do the same. Brazil is hosting the 2014 World Cup, so that makes this Vogue cover extra special – Gisele Bundchen and Neymar (Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior), two of the most famous Brazilians in the world. Neymar plays for FC Barcelona, but he will be playing for his home country at the World Cup. I’m including additional shots from the magazine, as well as unofficial snaps from Instagram.
So, what are the thoughts on the photos? Gisele isn’t annoying me at all here. She looks cute with Neymar, who is… adorable. I don’t really follow football at all (or as I call it, soccer), so the athletic world where men like Neymar are considered gods… well, I barely pay attention. He’s cute though. He’s got a great SexyFace. Good luck to him and good luck to Brazil… I’m worried that the World Cup is going to be a clusterwhoops of demonstrations, riots and tourism hell.
In other Gisele news, she’s taking over from BRAD PITT to become the new face of Chanel No. 5. Remember the ads? Of course you do. I’m glad Chanel’s experimental “let’s pay Brad Pitt to talk about space and the wonderment of time” campaign is done. Back to something tried and true: a pretty model hawking perfume. Apparently, Chanel re-hired Baz Luhrmann to direct Gisele’s commercials.
Photos courtesy of Vogue Brazil, Instagram.
Can’t wait for World Cup! I got started watching WC soccer back in middle school when my friends and I just dished about which country had the cutest players. Now I actually understand the game and love to watch!! (The hotties don’t hurt.)
Can’t stand either of them.
She LOVES Brazil but barely spends any time here. Even Costa Rica is her preferred vacation spot. I hate what I call the “World Cup Time Patriotics”. You ask them: “How do you feel about Brazil (the country)”? “Oh, I LOVE IT”, “Why don’t you live there then?” “Ahhhh, hmmmmm, life there is too difficult, there’s too much violence”.
Well, I HAVE to live here and face all the problems this World Cup has brought to the local population.
I’M REALLY PISSED OFF at the mess that is the city where I live — and that’s because of just three games just a few people care about (the big games, the matches that really matter will take place in the Southern states).
Mark my words: if the other teams aren’t robbed blind (just so Brazil can win), our team will fall flat on its face the moment it plays against a stronger team (say Germany or Spain). Can’t wait to see Luis Felipe Scolari’s (the coach) arrogant face afterwards.
If I’m wrong and Brazil wins this sh*t beautifully…well, then I’ll come back here and eat my words. Promise.
I really hope you will lose the opening match 😀 After that, good luck!
Don’t worry. I’m rooting for Croatia, too. Or, better put: AGAINST CBF (the Brazilian Football Confederation) and Luís Felipe Scolari (the coach).
Well, thank you then 😀
I really doubt we will win, but thank you anyway.
I have no delusions that my lovely Americans are going to win anything. If they do it will be because of an own goal by the other team. 😎
I always root for England, too, even though they always choke. Maybe I should root for Croatia?
@ Sighs:
You’re American? Well, I have bad news for you. You’re going to play here where I live and the weather…ah, the weather is 86 degrees on a “fresh” day.
You should totally root for Croatia 😀
Oh, and Eve, we have two players born in Brazil on our team.
I can’t stand the English team ( no offence to the lovely English people here), and I’m a huge Anglophile. But their football team is so arrogant.
Croatia, then Bosnia, then Germany are my picks.
@eve- oh, Americans are used to playing in the heat. Our final send off game is in Jacksonville, Florida (not overly far from me) and 86 sounds like heaven. It’s regularly 90-100 for most of the summer with high humidity. Our coaches are well aware. We actually do really well in the heat.
Hey maybe we will win one. I forgot about us holding up better in those conditions. The great thing about America being so vast is that we pretty much cover most weather conditions in some part of the country. We practice in Denver to get ready for Azteca in Mexico for high altitude. We have cold and hot. We have dry and humid. It’s a smorgasbord of weather!
That’s awful Eve. I didn’t know about the crime. Gisele is awful.
Praying for Germany to win – Love Bastian Schweinsteiger
Eve do you think the Brazilians of Euro descent would be rooting for the other teams behind closed doors?
I don’t think so. The Brazilian National Team is a very powerful brand. Being called to play for it, especially during an important competition like the World Cup (not to mention one that is taking place here) is a huge honour — or, as I like saying…” a huge self-advertisement” for future endorsements deals and contracts with European teams.
I stopped rotting for Brazil in 1996 — when I finally woke up for the f*ckery that was going on between CBF and its sponsors.
P.S.: If you see any pictures of Brazilian players celebrating the 1994 victory in the US, you will notice them doing the “number 1” thing (with their finger). That was not to celebrate our victory, that was a contract that they had signed prior to the game (with a brewery company whose slogan was “The Nº 1”).
I actually like Germany as well. I love their style of play. I was pleased when Klinsy came to us, though he’s been kind of up and down. That seems to be our MO.
As long as *ucking Spain doesn’t win. They are so boring to watch! (Not ineffective, just boring as all hell)
Yes! Brazilian here… but the Cipriani in me is always a bit (too) pro-Italy.
@ Eve not a big enough honour for Diego Costa, after he was called up twice for Brazil he went to FIFA (or was it UEFA) to get a transfer to play for Spain during National call-ups
Amen sista!!!!! You are totally right, they love Brazil, but first chance, runaway from here and never comeback.
I’m Dutch, but have still not figured out which team I’ll support this time. I’m not over the previous final yet, it was a disgusting display of football and still hold it against team Orange, even if more than half the players have been changed.
I hear you, eve! I wish the wc wasn’t hosted here either. The pope’s visit proved we just don’t have the infrastructure. but, at the same time, some of my happiest memories are from the World Cup. I was nine yrs old when Baggio missed that penalty and I remember it like it was yesterday,
Growing up in NYC, I remember in 2002 there was a cup, one that we won. I was in high school, and the games were at 6 in the morning (hosted in Asia). Not a single person even knew about the WC in the city. It was so sad. Only if you looked inside a few Italian bars did you any one cheering. I watched most games alone. It was super sad.
I made a point to come down for every World Cup since. It’s always the best here, and hosting is only ruin the best thing there is.
I’m in rio, btw. We’re not even allowed to party at Clipper this year!!! It’s been forbidden. No one is decorating the streets either….
ETA: I cannot believe FIFA got Brazil to pass a law re: alcoholic beverages due to WC sponsorship. Wtf?!
Hello, fellow brasileira! 🙂
+1 for everything you said!
The thing about the World Cup is that no one wanted it to happen in Brazil, except for the government. Anyone that is slightly aware of the social, political and economical situation of Brazil knows we can’t host an event like this. Or two events like this in the span of two years! So FIFA, Brazilian people, and pretty much everyone else didn’t want Brazil to be the host. The government knows how much our people love football and sports and saw in these events an opportunity to gain popularity… But did it backfire on them! People are underwhelmed, to say the least, about the World Cup.
Oii 🙂
+1 to everything you said.
I’m sorry you’re going through such a bad time.
I love World Cup soccer though. I don’t follow international soccer at all and have no idea who the players are but I love the matches and the spectacle. I played through high school, even got to travel overseas and play in a few tourneys, so I know the game a bit. I obviously root for the Americans, although I’m under no delusions that they’ll be in any way successful. I do root for my heritage teams, although I’m a mutt so that means I root for about 5 different ones, lol. Overall, I just like watching good matches.
I love these pics, though, I have to say. Gisele lives in Boston with Tom, haven’t ever seen them out though. She looks gorgeous in these. I’m always so jealous of the effortless beauty types. She’s wearing very little makeup here and doesn’t look like a ton of photoshop. I say this as the proud owner of a current hideous breakout. A result, I think, of eating something I’m allergic to (non-dairy coffee creamer, powdered; I am trying to cut out dairy and I ended up with something worse, ugh).
I’ve seen her but not him. I’ve seen her early in the morning when she’s been out running. And yes, effortless beauty. With her hair pulled back, no make-up, and sweaty, she still looked stunning. Made me so mad I just wanted to stamp my foot!
Eve: Gisele is married. Her husband is American. Many Brazilian models live in USA. She never said those things about Brazil, but YOU are saying these things and you only live here because you “HAVE” to do it. You don’t love your own country that’s why you don’t want to believe Brazilians who don’t live in Brazil can’t love their country.
In that color photo you can see she’s wearing very little makeup. Good for her. Most models wear way too much, like Miranda Kerr.
Yay World Cup! I’ve been watching since the 90’s – my late stepdad was Spanish and the World Cup was THE event – and it really is great fun. I do feel like the Brazilian government should be putting a lotmore effort into helping their people and not just into this and the Olympics ($900 million dollar stadiums, anyone?) but hopefully there won’t be trouble during the tourney.
Go Spain!
Wow. He is not my usual type at all, but that is one fine looking man!
Just one more reason to hate Gisele…. 😉
Really? I don’t really see the appeal. From all Brazilian footballers, Kaka is the most handsome , IMO ( and has the funniest name).
Neymar’s neck tattoo is awful.
The thing that baffles me is that, from all the athletes, footballers tend to look the trashiest. And tend to be the least eloquent.
I can’t explain it, SpookySpooks. I’m as mystified as you are. He is the exact opposite of the guys I usually find attractive – he actually gives off a “Jersey Shore” vibe, which I abhor. And I hate huge “diamond” earrings and tattoos.
It could be PMS, though (TMI?), in which case I can plead temporary insanity. Next week, I will probably be back to my usual Hiddleston-loving self.
I haven’t noticed other athletes stand out for their dress sense or eloquence, TBH.
Hmmmm I don’t know. I tend to find NBA players pretty trashy looking.
Maybe I should have said athletes in European clubs. Euroleague basketball players dress okay, at least the ones I know of.
She looks amazing here.
Can’t wait for the World Cup. Football is huge in my country.
I hope Brazil loses the opening match 😀
And are Neymar and Gisele really the most popula Brazilians in the world?
God, his haircut is ugly. And that earring is too-
In their own minds, probably!
Gisele is very mannish when she smiles, non? Give me the 90s Supes who looked like women any day…
+1000 Absolutely agree.
Tapioca: In their own mind? Neymar is not very popular, but Gisele is very popular. You sound bitter and your comment has nothing to do with the question.
SpookySpooks: But this cover is not about “the most popular Brazilians in the world”.
But it says so in the post, that is why I asked.
@ Miss D, Neymar is pretty popular though..
SpookySpooks: The cover says: “Champions of the World”. I think they chose Gisele because she is our best model. She is the number 1. And she is very popular in Brazil.
Such pretty people, but I’m fairly certain they both know it.
Ha! True and true.
Her body is fabulous, but her face is just meh. Never saw her face as beautiful. She’s a good model though.
Me either. She looks positively homely in the face here (qualifier: for a supermodel). I think she’s slowly ageing into horseface.
Cannot wait for the World Cup and I don’t find the Vogue issue cheesy at all as Brasil is hosting this year’s WC. Bring on the Beautiful Game!
Beautiful? Clearly you don’t catch much news.
Actually, Soccer (or football) is widely known as “the Beautiful Game”, first said so by the Brazilian footballer, names Pele. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beautiful_Game
since you like googling why not google how their fans act
i would think they act kind of like negative bloggers and comment leavers. and let’s just leave it at that. have a great day!
Why are you giving her a hard time because she is excited for The World Cup? Seems a little unnecessary.
Neymar is more famous than Giselle.
She looks great. He is a sneeky diver.
Really? Neymar is an upcoming football star while Gisele has been around for what, 20 years? Apart from his ridiculously high transfer fee to Barca, I don’t think Neymar make that much a stir in the mainstream media. Barca has won zero medal this year and Neymar didn’t have so much highlights which certainly didn’t help it.
BUT, if Brazil could win this year’s worldcup and Neymar could nab the golden boot, that could be a totally different story.
He looks like a child next to her. And he’s wearing a baseball cap with his own name on it? Please.
Yes, he is. And people give Cristiano Ronaldo a hard time for being self-absorbed and vain…
Now, a little anedoct about Neymar: right after he arrived in Europe he, among many other South American players, was constantly a victim of racist slurs. At the time, he was asked by a Brazilian newspaper about it:
Estadão (famous Brazilian newspaper): Já foi vítima de racismo?” (“Have you ever been a victim of racism?”).
Neymar: Nunca. Nem dentro e nem fora de campo. Até porque eu não sou preto, né? (“Never, neither on nor outside the football field. Especially because I’m not black, right?”).
And for those who can speak Portuguese:
http://globoesporte.globo.com/platb/marvio-dos-anjos/2014/05/01/neymar-nao-se-acha-negro-canalhice-ou-desinformacao/
I thought Ronaldo was gay? Ever since he had paid off Theon of his child I have always wondered. Anyway that was sketchy as hell nonetheless. What is Irina Shayk doing with him? She is so hot and he is super cheesey.
So you’re telling me this nimrod had the opportunity to talk about the discrimination he and and some of the other players have faced and instead he disavows being black?
Please tell me I’m wrong.
“Yes, he is. And people give Cristiano Ronaldo a hard time for being self-absorbed and vain…”
THANK YOU! I mean Ronaldo also has hats with his own name on them but the point is a lot of footballers have ridiculous gear like that and none of them get half the negative attention for it as Ronaldo does.
@ I Choose Me:
Nope. Unfortunately, you’re right.
By the way, the term “preto”, which literally means “black” in Brazil, is pejorative when referred to people (it is not as bad as “crioulo”, which would be our “n-word”, but it’s still wrong). The correct term is “negro” here (that, of course, will still depend on the context, but that’s the correct term anyway).
P.S.: I made a minor mistake — he gave the “I’m not black” interview when he was 18 years old (still not an excuse, of course). But I just want to be accurate as possible.
I never got the Ronaldo hate. Yes, he’s flashy, but most of them are.
Has anyone seen the Championship League Final?
@SpookySpooks
I’m still overflowing with joy and excitement about that final. Absolutely glorious.
NIKE has a merchandise franchise for Ronaldo centered products, hats, shirts, shorts, jackets, football boots, training boots.etc, I think it’s part of his contract that he showed the CR7 sighs in public as much as possible.
Also, if you watch football matchs, you would notice most of the first tier footballers would wear the boots with their names incarnated, it all part of the business, not that big a thing.
I’m really glad Real won. I would normally root for Atletico because they’re the underdogs ( as much as a multi-millionaire club can be an underdog), but Modric plays for Real so that kinda overpowered. And he cut his hair. Now he looks like Ellen DeGeneres.
Modric looks more like Miley Cyrus now.
Gisele is sooo beautiful!
She would be a really handsome man.
+1000 handsome.
Germany FTW!
Her legs are perfection.
Hot bod….not so hot face as she gets older
Yes great figure, but I never thought her face was great.
Though i believe the World Cup and Olympics are gonna be a clusterfuck as the people IN the host nation have bigger fish to fry and a litany of problems Let it Be Known Im Going to be watching to quench this neverending fine man with high butts and strong legs that afflicts me #PrayForQQ Yall!! Im gonna be a dirtbag for those few weeks
The photo with Gisele sitting down seems way nicer than the one with the white oufit, but none of the photo’s seem cover material. It seems like a lazy effort.
I agree. The two covers are boring. The photographer is Mario Testino. Hard to believe. But I like that black and white picture.
Looks like she and Tom are done. She’s living in NYC and he’s living in Boston.
To me Neymar ruins the whole shoot, just Giselle would’ve been great.
Yeah, hosting the cup is working out real well for Brazil. Pathetic how sports trumps education, poverty, pollution and various other insignificant problems.
Couldn’t agree with you more … So sad how sports outshine the real problems… 🙁
Neymar is an absolute idiot, nohing like the old Brazilian football legends.
I’ve never seen an interview with him. Not bright, ha?
Was Socrates the footballer who had a doctorate in medicine? Which he got during his career? Now that is impressive.
You should see his interviews. The guy can’t even make a complete sentence, it’s sad to watch. I got love for my country, but people here tend to idolize idiots like them. Unfortunately, players like Socrates aren’t role models for young boys.
@Naddie, about 10 years ago I discovered and started to really admire Gilberto Silva. A great player with a warm personality. I realised that part of what made him special is that he actually experienced hard work, was the support for his family before his career took off.
He’s done a lot of charity work through the years, and actually returned to his formative club in Brazil after his european years.
And a player like that is not a model for young boys in Brazil? How sad!
Not into football nor football players at all, but this is a great photoshoot and they both look lovely!
i’m from brazil, and i have nothing to say about it
Yes, t here are problems. They exist since Brazil was colonized by Portugal. They just got way too obvious to be ignored. But I am excited about the World Cup and I am going to be there. Go Brasil!
To those saying Neymar isn’t that well known…
He is more popular than Giselle cos football is the most popular sports in the world.
Am a huge footie fan so I know what am talking about.
The UEFA Champions League is the most watched league around the world.
Sports is more global than anything else so I think that’s why Neymar was chosen for this.
Giselle is the most successful model in the world according to Forbes.
They look lovely 🙂
So excited for the world cup, go Portugal, go!!
Love the Brazil team but sometimes i cant stand Neymar…. maybe because he plays for Barcelona, haha.
I am appalled at all the expenses for this World Cup and how could that could have been expend in better infrastructure for the country, but supporters around the world are not responsible for our bad management and corruption. So yeah, I’m hoping for a good World Cup.
Loved the B&W picture.
I’m a huge soccer fan. Can’t wait!! I don’t mind this cover. But RONALDO!!! Yum. Go USA!
He is better looking, and she has the more masculine face.
True.
I love Gisele. She is my favorite model. I don’t know why some people think is annoying. I know some people don’t like her interviews, but I like her interviews. She is not fake like some models.
The covers are boring. It’s not sexy, but who said it should be sexy?
As cheesy as a giant Gorgonzola, these metrosexual soccer players are awful, Ronaldo is just horrid, as is David Beckham and his soprano voice, the only vaguely bearable one is Messi with his bad haircut.
I know nothing about the guy, but his hair is interesting. It works for him.