Mr Handsome title for Ronaldo

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo is the hottest player at this year’s European football championship and not just because of his dribbling skills, according to a Europe-wide women’s survey.

The Manchester United striker was voted the most handsome player of the tournament, in a poll of 12,000 women carried out by electronics company LG.

French forward Thierry Henry came in second, ahead of injured Italian skipper Fabio Cannavaro and Freddie Ljungberg of Sweden who drew for third place. Talent and his Latin good looks won Ronaldo the title, according to the survey.

His biggest fans were apparently Italian, German and Swedish women.

— AFP

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Footballers turn night watchmen

Several Germany players were up half the night watching television replays of their 2-0 Euro 2008 win over Poland, centre back Per Mertesacker said on Monday.

The squad did not arrive back from Sunday’s Group B game in Klagenfurt in Austria to their Swiss base until the early hours and for many players sleep did not come easily.

"It’s the best possible way to spend the night, isn’t it? ... watching TV replays from 2am to 4am," Mertesacker told a news conference. "But it’s difficult to sleep when you’ve been out on the pitch and anyway self-analysis is a good thing.

"It’s great watching the match on TV ... with so many different angles. You definitely see things that can help you improve."

Germany’s victory was popular back home where the match gained a peak TV audience of 26 million, the German Football Association said."We had not reckoned with figures anything like that," said team manager Oliver Bierhoff.

"It just shows the status the German team enjoys back home." Germany’s next game is against Croatia in Klagenfurt on Thursday.