PARIS (Reuters) -- Djibril Cisse, who plays for European soccer champion Liverpool, will appear nude in the 2006 calendar published by the French rugby union club Stade Francais.

The French daily newspaper Le Parisien carried the naked picture of the French international striker on Wednesday showing his back and side with him posing with a football on his right, heavily tatooed, thigh.

Cisse, who regularly sports some highly original hairstyles dyed in different colors, has scored six goals for Liverpool this season after missing much of last season with a broken leg.

Emulating the world famous Pirelli calendar, the Stade Francais first launched a black-and-white calendar in 2000 in which their players were naked.

The circulation of last year's issue went up to 240,000. This year's issue goes on sale at the end of the month.

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.