International soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo would like to drop kick Vanity Fair magazine from mid-field after discoveriong that he was paired on the magazine’s cover with Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. Christiano apparently thinks he alone deserved the cover.

The magazine’s feature about the World Cup played up the beefcake angle of the tournament and Christiano was one of several players featured in the Annie Leibovitz shoot.

The two were photographed separately and then combined in a joint pose through the magic of digital retouching.

Cristiano’s Madrid teammate Kaká (Brazil) and Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy/USA) appear on the inside photo spread.

Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan/Ghana), Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan/Cameroon), Pato (A.C Milan/Brazil), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus [Turin]/Italy), Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan/Serbia), Carlton Cole (West Ham United/England), and Michael Ballack (Chelsea/Germany) are also featured.

But the Real Madrid stud was furious when he saw himself sharing the cover, according to The New York Post, which sniffed out the story.

Not only are Ronaldo and Didier fierce rivals — they face each other June 15 — but there is also the question of, well, vanity.

Ronaldo is arguably the best player in the world and earns $30 million a year, more than any other soccer player. In short, he is a certified superstar.

“Ronaldo is freaking out,” the source told The Post. “He says he wants to sue Vanity Fair for using his image to promote the issue everywhere.

“Even though this is pretty standard practice in the magazine world, he and his managers insist only they have control of his image and where it can be used.

“What really upset Ronaldo was that, having stripped off to his underpants for the shoot in Madrid, he didn’t envisage sharing the cover with another player photographed in Milan.”

Ex-girlfriend Nereida Gallardo told Britain’s News of the World in 2008 that Cristiano, who was recently linked to Kim Kardashian, is very vain.

“He likes his body to be smooth all over and would even use a hair-removal cream. His house is full of mirrors so he’s always walking around glancing at himself,” she said.

But he does pack a kick, not to mention crazy abs.

The 2010 World Cup kicks off in South Africa June 11.

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