After a month spent in front of a screen screaming at/with the players, the 20th FIFA World Cup has come to an end on Sunday with the victory of Germany. Even though the main attraction was obviously these men running after a ball on the field, this year, to be a spectator has become as interesting for the media as being called Karim Benzema.
Articles around the world were talking for days about the Japanese fans who were cleaning their part of the stadium after the end of the game. They were talking of the overly happy fans of the winning countries - and the sad ones as well.
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| Source: Twitter |
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| BBC |
But for the very first time, this year, the World Cup was about women. Blond or brunette, often tall, always beautiful; cameramen's goal during each game was to catch the image of these unknown women - considered as half-goddesses, half-humans. Wether they were journalists or not, they were always supporting their teams. And the more they were smiling, the better.
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| Daily Mail |
The most famous example - the one everyone talked about - is Axelle Despiegelaere, a Belgian supporter.
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| Yahoo Sports |
Tall, blond, thin and smiling, Despiegelaere is the perfect example of the image cameramen were looking for. The perfect example which shows what the media, as well as the modelling world, were looking for.
After being shown on a lot of media worldwide, she was entitled one of the most beautiful supporters of the FIFA World Cup by social networks.
Following this sudden interest, Despiegelaere decided to create a professional Facebook Page - which was later seen by L'Oréal Professionnal, who decided to offer her a contract to sign. (Later, after the publication of a picture going against the image of the brand, a L'Oréal Professional's spokesperson announced that the contract has now been completed.)
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This story, as well as all the pictures used in the media showed that, not only women now understand the rule of the offsides, corners or penalties, but they also enjoy going to a stadium to support their team. Furthermore, brands and magazines seem to have found a new way to watch football which help them to discover the faces of potential new models.
The World Cup has evolved. It has become a societal phenomenon. The 20th FIFA World Cup has touched more people than the ones before. It has given us more memories from the seats than ever before. Is it going to change the image of the following World Cups? Will the seats in the stadium become more and more fashionable?
Only the 21th FIFA World Cup knows... Let's see in 2018 in Russia, shall we?
