C'MON! Be Real: If Soccer Ain't Gay, Then Why Do So Many Football Teams Have Their Players Wear PINK SHOES?!

Regarding the World Cup taking place in North America's largest countries, national teams have a variety of "uniforms" to differentiate them from the other team, blazers that usually reflect the colors of the country's flag. (Something that is hard to accomplish when Germany plays Belgium or when Denmark plays Poland or when France [see photo above] plays the Netherlands or Russia or… the US of A; in that case, there are backup "uniforms" whose main purpose is meant to accentuate the difference, as much for the benefit of the audiences as for that of the players themselves.)

But in all that, the shoes are rarely part of the uniform, are hard to distinguish from one team to another, and in fact often turn out to be… pink. This leads Madame Figaro's Axelle Dusart to ask, So why do so many footballers wear pink shoes on the field? 

Indeed, fluorescent pink has taken over the feet of every footballer, with few exceptions. The result: from the French and South African national teams to American players, it is difficult to distinguish the brands they are wearing. … 

 … [Admittedly, we see] Orange or blue accents for Puma’s "Showtime Pack," holographic soles for Adidas’s "Road to Glory Pack," a neon yellow element for Nike’s "Breakout Pack," a gold logo for New Balance’s "Pure Ambition Pack," and a sunset-style gradient for Skechers’ "Sunset Pack" … Despite these differences, the dominant color across all these shoes is bright pink. Once a shade reserved for the most fashion-forward players—we all remember the uproar caused by Nicklas Bendtner, the first footballer to wear pink shoes on the field in 2008—it has now become commonplace. 

It turns out that offhand, the color does not seem to have anything to do with homosexuality, explains the weekly's Axelle Dusart, as she proceeds to allow Alessandra Ronetti, an art historian specialized in colors, to give a history lesson of the use of the color from World War I to the aerobics world, of "shocking pink" to "hot pink", and from Marilyn Monroe (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) to Margot Robbie (Barbie). Alessandra Ronetti, "historienne de l’art spécialiste des couleurs" :

Pink catches the eye, creates an impression of speed and modernity, and also enables brands to produce instantly recognizable objects.