5 German women’s U-20 national team players posed for Playboy

With the Women's World Cup being played on their own turf at the end of this month, Playboy Germany decided to celebrate by doing a covershoot with five members of the U-20 national team (who, for the record, are all between 19 and 22 years old) for its latest issue. Annika Doppler (Bayern Munich), Kristina Gessat (FSV Gutersloh), Ivana Rudelic (Bayern), Julia Simic (Bayern) and Selina Wagner (Wolfsburg) all posed in various states of undress for the magazine. And we helpfully included each of their team photos over the NSFW parts of the above cover. You're welcome.

In the companion interview (which can be found on Playboy Germany's NSFW site), the footballers discuss how they find the "erroneous image of the unattractive football player" to be the "most annoying" stereotype about the women's game and how they're trying to get away from that image by attaching more importance to their appearance. They also say how they think it's easier for female footballers to be openly gay than it is for male footballers and whether or not they would want Louis "The Party Beast" van Gaal as a manager.

Between the photos and the young players' comments, there is sure to be debate between those who find this harmful and those who think any publicity is good publicity. Feel free to share your opinion in the comment section.

Bild's NSFW behind the scenes video here.