Sports Illustrated Prints 25 Covers For Women.s World Cup Champions

To honor the U.S. women’s national team achievement this year, Sports Illustrated has come up with a one-of-a-kind cover shoot. Instead of one cover to honor the 23 players and coach Jill Ellis, one for each of them. From Golden Ball winner Carli Lloyd to veteran stalwarts Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe to backup goalkeepers Alyssa Naeher and Ashlyn Harris, each member of the World Cup-winning squad, posing with the World Cup trophy, has her own cover as part of a unique set.
"On Tuesday, July 7, we alighted on the idea of one cover for each of the 23, plus a 24th for the coach,” said Chris Stone, Sports Illustrated managing editor. "The USWNT has plenty of recognizable, even famous names, but we couldn't think of a group so thoroughly identified with a team as this one. We could go two ways: a team shot, which seemed a little conventional here, or something different and fresh: honoring not just one or two players, but all 23 of them with their own cover.
"Now how to pull it off? By the time we settled on the idea, the team was in L.A. for an event that would end mid-afternoon. The photographer we wanted to shoot it, and who had shot the [World Cup final], Simon Bruty, was headed home to D.C.
Here is the end result: A historic cover shoot for a historic team. (Click here for full-size gallery.)