Xi Jinping, a lifelong soccer fan, hoped to marshal China’s collective spirit behind “the beautiful game.” In reality, he welcomed a fleet of vultures to feast on it.
In October of 2015, Chinese media announced Xi Jinping’s first selfie. China’s leader looked uncharacteristically jolly posing alongside the soccer star Sergio Aguero and then-British Prime Minister David Cameron, with Aguero snapping the trio’s photo. It quickly went viral. Argentine striker Aguero became an overnight sensation and his team, Manchester City, scooped up a sizable Chinese fanbase.
“Every person in the world asks me about the selfie,” Aguero later said.
Xi wa
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