The Esquire June World Cup Heroes issue, on sale 1 May, has dedicated 58 pages to a celebration of World Cups past and present, the flamboyant players and the riotous signature sounds that have provoked, entertained, enlightened and inspired generations of fans.
To do each cover star justice, say the publishers, Esquire asked some of football’s most eminent writers to explain what qualities make certain men icons of sport. Alex Bellos tackles Pelé; Jimmy Burns takes on Maradona; David Winner salutes Cruyff; Raphael Honigstein hails Beckenbauer; David Goldblatt champions Zidane; and Brian Glanville celebrates the late Bobby Moore.
The issue reflects the contrasting nature of the host country, Brazil, a place where extremes of rich and poor, joy and despair rub up against each other with three eye-opening stories, says Esquire.
Tim Lewis eloquently discusses how the Brazil team of 1982 were defeated by the eventual winners Italy and what this meant to football. Bruce Douglas spent time with the dispossessed people who make, play and dance to favela funk and Andrew Downie interviews the players and coaches at the once glorious Paulista.
Roy Hodgson and Sir Geoff Hurst talk exclusively to Esquire, and 19-year-old Liverpool winger and potential England World Cup star, Raheem Sterling pulls off summer’s informal weekend styles in a 10 page photoshoot by fashion photographer Matt Holyoak.
For every man wanting to make the most of the World Cup Esquire also offers an indispensable User’s Guide to Brazil 2014: which games to watch, what to drink while watching them and who to support if and when England get knocked out.
