NFT created by Alexandre Freitas.
The idea of creating this website came across when, as a retired photographer with loads of unclassified files packed up and getting dusty. I decided that something had to be done. Ricardo Alfieri, a famous Argentinian photographer, had the same problem.
So we decided to join our archives and instead of classifying them the classical way, we decided to assemble stories around the pictures.
Searching the market, we were surprised that platforms such as OpenSea, Superare or Foundation do not have collections of pictures on former soccer stars as Pelé, Maradona, Messi and other big names of the game.
So we decided to be pioneers and started the project of spreading in the market the pictures that no one else has.
We are joined in the endeavor by Pier Giorgio Giavelli, considered the world’s best soccer photographer, still going strong, who has an archive of more than 5 million pictures, having covered so far 11 World Cups.
Some of these pictures have turned into NFTs, but we are ready to produce sports collections.
Paulo Teixeira, co-founder.
MESSI road to glory
Messi is the new guy in the hood in Miami.
Three world-class soccer photographers have decided to trust my idea to assemble a bunch of photos portraying Messi with Argentina National team, little known from the general public, since he spent most of his life in Spain.
It all started back in 2004 in Argentina – the part of the story covered by Carlos Sarraf and Ricardo Alfieri, co-founder of RAPT_10, the professional who had already extensively portrayed Maradona.
The other part of the collection is told by Pier Giorgio Giavelli an Italian globetrotter settled in Brazil. Together, they have 27 World Cups in their CV’s.
The whole NFT collection, composed of 109 photos is on sale for 100 ETH on OpenSea.
The NFT of Messi’s legs will be offered to buyers.
Everybody Has a Smile
During my career as a soccer photographer for Argentinian sports magazine El Gráfico and CONMEBOL, I had the chance to cover 10 World Cups and as many as Copas America. I got the thought that spectators go to those events with a different state of mind. Yes, to support their nation, but mostly to party with people from different environments and cultures.
They spend a long time preparing themselves to go to an important date. It takes hours for these, mostly youngsters, to get their faces painted, wear disguises, adjust clothing – with the final goal to show where they come from, who and how they are going to support their favorite teams and nations. No matter whether they are from Australia, Bolivia, Trinidad & Tobago, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, South Africa or Peru.
The arena is their stage.
Reviewing my archives of thousands of pictures, I picked those 50 for the collection which, in my view, best illustrate that, as a matter of fact,
‘Everybody has a smile’.
Ricardo Alfieri
Hinchadas/Supporters
They are always there. On the, stands, their hearts are like one. Neither rich nor poor, neither bad nor good. They shout, sing, whistle, get depressed, get excited, cry, laugh, love, hate. They are flags and color. They are the mirror of what happens on the field, and they are of course an essential part of the spectacle. What would a stadium be without them? Would the party be the same? Would soccer transmit the same passion?
Argentinian Ricard Alfieri, perhaps the most famous of artistic sports photographers, searched among his photos from the decade 2010 to 2020 to chose those exhibited here. On this occasion he does not show the goals, gestures, plays, dribbling, jumps, head butts, faces, hugs, and euphoria, from great players like Pele, Maradona, and Messi among other great stars. This time he pointed his camera at the fans without whose presence we would never have fallen so much in love with the most beautiful game in the world.
Cheers to the fans who never abandon their teams.
Cherquis Bialo, Argentinian journalist
"I WAS THERE!"
EL MARACANAZO
THE STORY OF MARADONA
Villa Fiorito is the name of the shanty town in the outskirts of Buenos Aires where Diego Armando Maradona was born and where the photo story of Ricardo Alfieri begins.
As the star photographer of the sports weekly magazine El Gráfico, Ricardo had the opportunity to picture him as a kid playing the ball in muddy grounds through a whole career beginning at Argentinos Juniors, where it all started, until the day he lifted the World Cup trophy 1986 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico.
An amazing collection of 150 pictures which takes the viewer into the player’s intimacy, be it in Buenos Aires when he shot the exclusive picture the time Maradona’s first child Dalma was born or at Soccavo training ground in Napoli.
To be featured soon on OpenSea.
100 STARS, part 1
Every human being has a gesture that defines him. In football, players are identified by a body language that tells the story about them.
100 STARS, part 2
More Collections to come...
- Wembley 92 – Barcelona’s first Champions League title, summed up in 20 pictures.
- The Yugos no more – a recollection of Yugoslavian players prior to the partition of the country into five others, back in the 90’s.
- Denmark Euro 92 – How a bunch of players packed their bags from holiday resorts to assemble and win the Euro 92 title in Sweden.
- Magic 10 – Ten players who best represented the most iconic jersey in football summed up in 20 pictures (back and front).
- Maracaña as it was – The Temple of football.
- Pele as never seen – Featuring as a gangster in Pedro Mico film, 1985.
In Honor Of...
…those women who have embraced football as a profession and just finished enchanted us with a marvelous World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
For instance:
Olga Carmona, the Spanish left back that smashed the winning goal against England.
Sama Paralluelo, the black forward that reminded us of a gazelle running on a prairie.
Megan Rapinoe, the American who has taken women’s football a step further.
And many others who brilliantly showed us that women in football have come to stay.
This picture of mine was taken back in 1986 in Copacabana beach, when it all was yet to start…
MARACANÃ. The Temple of Football.
