From the macho world of Brazilian football - which produced the sporting legends Pele and Ronaldo - few would have predicted the latest craze to sweep the game.
Young players are lining up to pose naked for the country's biggest-selling gay magazine.
Already three top footballers - who are expected to turn out to play against Manchester United in January's World Club Championships - have appeared in G Magazine in explicit full-frontal pictures.
The soccer stars, who insist they are not themselves gay, have provoked controversy and at least one is facing expulsion from his team for the revealing photos.
Ms Nanete Neves, a spokeswoman for G Magazine, said: "These men are not gay. They are as red-blooded as any man but they have good bodies and are proud of themselves.
"Our readers want to see heterosexual men in this magazine. Footballers are our most popular pin-ups and they have a huge following among the gay audience.
"It's very sad that the team managers are being so difficult. I'm sure they would be happy to stare at a naked woman.
"The players are broad-minded individuals because they don't feel that their sexuality is under threat but obviously not everyone in this country is so tolerant."
In Brazil's famously macho culture, openly homosexual behaviour is still frowned upon.
Only in the last two years have 74 of the country's municipalities passed laws prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals.
In March, 20,000 Brazilians turned out for a Gay Pride march, compared to 7,500 the previous year, leading organisers to declare that the country is slowly coming to terms with the issue of homosexuality.
Goalkeeper Roger Jose de Noronta Silva, from the Sao Paulo team, is the latest player to pose for G Magazine in the October issue.
A spokesman for the Sao Paulo club, based in South America's largest city, was displeased: "The coach won't tolerate his team stripping off, especially for a gay magazine.
"Nobody takes their kit off. It gives the club a bad image and I expect that Roger's career with us is over."
Already coach Paulo Carpegiani has not only banned Silva from playing but also from sitting on the sidelines at this weekend's match.
Silva, who was accompanied to the photo shoot by his wife, said: "Of course I told the team about the photos beforehand.
"There's no way I would have done something like this without permission. I don't see what their problem is. Posing without clothes is not a crime.
"My wife was quite happy for me to appear naked. She appreciates that this is not a sexual thing. It is just a celebration of the body."
Soccer stars Vampeta and Dinei, who play for Brazil's national team and current league champions the Corinthians, have already appeared in G Magazine.
Each month, readers vote for their ideal pin-up and soccer players consistently reap the most nominations, say magazine staff.
"They are more popular than everyone else, including pop singers and actors," said Ms Neves. "Since they started appearing in the magazine we have had a 400 per cent increase in circulation.
"Readers want to see footballers in the nude and we plan to ask more to appear. So far no one has turned us down and I don't think they are doing it just for the money."
This changing attitude has been acknowledged by O Globo, producers of the country's leading soap operas.
In a recent production, Suave Veneno or Sweet Poison, they put a gay character in the lead role.
In focus groups conducted by the company, nine out of 10 people said they wanted Ualber, the gay clairvoyant, to end up with another man.
When the final episode was transmitted last week, Ualber was seen successfully wooing a new boyfriend.
This liberalism was tempered by a speech he gave on family values and the importance of the Catholic Church, indicating that homosexuality is acceptable only if it falls within strict moral guidelines.
Prof Fernando Seffner, from Rio Grande do Sul University, said: "At last Brazilians are able to come out and tell people about their sexuality. I hope we are finally catching up with the west.
"It's still not an easy decision but at least young people are able to be honest about their preferences.
"They no longer have to hide the truth like we did in the past."