WITH their perfect physiques, sports stars are dream fodder for underwear brands.
And with an army of fans, their popularity could certainly influence punters to shell out on some expensive briefs.
Recent pants purveyor Son Heung-Min showed off his chiselled abs for a Calvin Klein ad, with Jude Bellingham also joining the game today.
And they’re not the first athlete to model drawers…
Cristiano Ronaldo
The former Man Utd legend may be seeing out his career in Saudi Arabia, but at least he has his empire and fashion label to fall back on.
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Incredibly, his clothing line CR7 is worth a staggering £58million, and it sells everything from shoes to jeans to underwear.
Ronaldo even took part in a photoshoot to show off some of the collection.
Rafael Nadal
As a brand ambassador for Emporio Armani, tennis god Rafael Nadal took his role very seriously– judging by these smouldering snaps.
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The Spaniard sizzled in a series of moody ads in 2011 for their autumn-winter collection.
Amusingly, it was unveiled on a 20ft billboard in New York.
Most recently, Tommy Hilfiger has used Nadal to model their pants.
David Beckham
Before Nadal got the job, England legend Beckham was the man Emporio Armani wanted to peddle their pants in 2007.
They paid him handsomely too – a reported £20million for a three-year deal.
In 2012, Beckham repeated the feat with H&M to release his own bodywear collection.
Neymar
Last year, Brazilian forward Neymar teamed up with high-street retailer Superdry to model its 100 per cent organic cotton underwear.
It all ties in neatly with his Instituto Projeto, a non-profit foundation set up to create opportunities for socially vulnerable families in the Praia Grande area, where Neymar grew up.
Superdry have offered their own support to the organisation, and with the smalls selling at £24.99 a percentage of the sale is donated.
Magdalena Neuner
The stunning German biathlete found a cunning way to grab our attention when she retired.
In 2013 she posed for Mey underwear in her native country and showed off her incredible pins.
It really left us hoping for a little bit more, but it was the only ad she would do for the underwear giant.
Freddie Ljungberg
Arsenal legend was as famous in North London for his goals as he was for this Calvin Klein ad in the 2000s.
His image adorned billboards all over the world, including in the US, with Amerincans not having a clue he was a professional footballer.
Freddie opened the door for tennis stars Fernando Verdasco and Janko Tipsarevic to model for Calvin Klein too.
Gisela Dulko
Argentinian tennis player Gisela was married to footballer Fernando Gago when she did this shoot, so it’s a wonder why they didn’t do an underwear ad together.
But in 2012, she shot a sexy photoshoot for Selu Lingerie which really showed off the charms that had Gago presumably gaga.
She had, at that point, quit the game to pursue a modelling career.
Today, she is a mum of three and a commentator for ESPN.
Italian football team
Those Italian footballers normally have all the luck when it comes to fashion.
If the world’s leading designers aren’t designing suits for the national team before they fly off to a World Cup, then they’re designing their pants too.
The Azzuri, represented by the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo, posed for Dolce & Gabbana in this revealing ad in 2006.
It started off a chain of similar ads for Italy that seem to appear prior to their big tournaments.
Ansu Fati
Barcelona wonderkid Fati tried his hand at underwear modelling.
Back in April 2002, the teenage forward – who is sponsored by Nike – took part in a photoshoot for their spring and summer collection.
Underwear was featured, although Fati isn’t quite as chiselled as his contemporaries.
Still, as their face he is to be respected.
Jude Bellingham
The 20-year-old ace won the league and European double in his first season with Real Madrid.
Bellingham will now be England’s star man heading into Euro 2024.
And he had even more reason to celebrate after becoming the new face of Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS underwear.
Bellingham showed off his footy skills as he paraded around in briefs.
