Asian girls - 野兽足球 - The Beast Football" by "时尚先生 Esquire China

The famous 'Chinese girls playing football in the mud' photo set

Photo 1: The coach showing respect?

The Photo set "野兽足球 - The Beast Football" by "时尚先生 Esquire China" is one of the most famous football themed photo sets with female models. You can see many of the photos on various websites, but what many people don't know is, whether the girls on the photos are Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese or Korean and many people have no clue whenand for what occasion they were made.

Well, let me give you the answer: They were made in 2006 for the Esquire magazine in China. They were published just before the World Cup 2006 in Germany. Chinese magazines and photographers are very creative just before a big sport event such as the FIFA World Cup. A similar phenomenon occurred this year again with the famous 32 Nations' Soccer Girls set and Shuang Shuang's Shark Girl set, that also became quite popular on my blog.

In this set, you can see girls playing soccer (or football) in the mud. I will try to explain the whole story step by step in order to help you understand the intention of the photographer. The photos were made by 陈准. And here are the names of the models on the photos: 周伟童、罗瑛、黄小楼、秦洋、杨钰琳、张松琪、王毓、王繁、聂童、孙童童、陈丹、秦子怡. All of them are Chinese from China. None of them is Korean, I have no idea why some people think so on other blogs. Not only it's obvious from how they look, their names are Chinese and no mention of any Korean girl can be found in that Esquire article.

Now let us try to figure out, what this is all about.

Photo 2: The coach giving instruction to the girls, they listen quietly.

Photo 3: Skimpy girls in black and white start the game.

Photo 4: A harsh tackle: Obviously the first openly sexual connotation. 

Photo 5: The black team attacking. The focus is on the mud.

Photo 6: Focusing on the legs to increase the sexual undertone.

Photo 7: The battle in its crucial stage. It's getting rough and dirty.

Photo 8: Keeping the momentum from the previous photo.

Photo 9: A photo to remember, looks artificial, staged, unnatural.

Photo 10: Best photo of the set and the most famous photo circulating around the web.

Photo 11: The breaking point. A very vicious foul, an impossible shot. Masterpiece.

Photo 12: A nurse is brought in, again to increase the underlying sexual tension.

Photo 13: The red card, the break. Men fight, women observe. Reverse focus.

Photo 14: Most sexually laden photo - at the penalty shot. The focus is on the buttocks.

Photo 15: Afraid and determined, brave and focused. A pause.

Photo 16: Lost faces, tears and emptiness.

Photo 17: The referee is totally covered in mud. The end of a battle for him.

Photo 18: The battlefield after the battle. Like soldiers, the women are totally worn out.

Photo 19: The rain washing away the pain, the savior, the rebirth.

This photo story is at first very confusing and doesn't make any sense. It looks like a very simple concept of letting skinny and beautiful girls play soccer in mud with skimpy clothes, getting all sweaty and dirty. But there is a story, a narrative in all the mess that's here called "The Beast Football". Why the beast? Is it because it's rough and dirty and merciless? Or is it because it's a manly sport, a sport where men connect to their inner beast? Who knows, we can only speculate. I've heard voices, who said these photos were sexist. Maybe they are, maybe some parts are just too expressive and lack any significance in the overall story, but then again, we have see these photos through Chinese (or Asian) eyes and not Western. If you have anything to add to the debate, feel free to comment.