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PHOTOS: When politicians flaunt their football tricks
The biggest sporting extravaganza kicks off in Brazil on Thursday. For the next month, everything else takes a backseat.
The beautiful game often trumps politics. No one can miss the football frenzy, not even politicians. Here’s proof.
Rediff.com takes a look at some popular world leaders as they put their best foot forward, quite literally.
We start with the world's most powerful man trying his hand at the world's most popular sport.
US President Barack Obama kicks a football ball as he stops to meet the girls and boys teams who were practicing at Tully Central High School in Tully, New York.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
Obama tries yet another trick -- this time a header -- at Ubungo Power Plant in Dar es Salaam.
The ball called a "soccket ball" has internal electronics that allows it to generate and store electricity that can power small devices.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron and sports broadcaster Gary Lineker practice their football skills in his office in Westminsterin London.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
No one loves their football like the Brazilians.
President Dilma Rousseff kicks the ball as FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, former Brazilian soccer player and member of the 2014 World Cup local organising committee Ronaldo and Porto Alegre's Mayor Jose Fortunati cheer during the opening ceremony of the Beira-Rio stadium, which will be one of the stadiums hosting the 2014 World Cup matches, in Porto Alegre.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
Russia's 'macho' President Vladimir Putin tosses a football inside Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Built in 1950 for the World Cup, Maracana has long been considered the world's largest football stadium, where a record of more than 180,000 attended a match, in 1969.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
US Secretary of State John Kerry participates in an impromptu game of football with staff as he waits for his plane to refuel between Islamabad and London, at Vienna Airport.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
Bolivia's President Evo Morales tries to control the ball as he warms up before a friendly match between his team and top officials, staff members and ambassadors to the UN in New York.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
Former US president George W Bush kicks a football during warm ups before he attends the 2008 Army vs Navy football game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
Former Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko kicks a ball during the opening ceremony of Dnepropetrovsk stadium in September 14, 2008.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
Former Cuban president Fidel Castro and Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona play with a ball during an interview in La Havana, October 26, 2005.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
Late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales kick the opening ball of the Copa America Venezuela 2007 soccer tournament in San Cristobal June 26, 2007.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
And there are few that take their football as seriously as the Germans.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is a football fanatic and is often seen cheering her national side in the stands. Here she is seen tossing a ball in Berlin during a promotional campaign ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
Stephan Meier, a member of Germany's Christian Social Union in Neumarkt/Oberpfalz tries controlling a football in Neumarkt near Nuremberg.
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When politicians flaunt their football tricks
South African President Jacob Zuma kicks a football as he is watched by a schoolgirl and former British PM Gordon Brown on the terrace of number 10 Downing Street, in London March 4, 2010.