Essien Among Hottest World Cup Hunks

It's not called the Beautiful Game for nothing. As well as delighting football fans with their slick ball skills, the World Cup's top players have also been setting hearts racing with their impressive physiques. And though he didn't bring home the Cup, David Beckham still scored a resounding victory by taking first position in the Hellomagazine.com online poll to find the championship's hottest football hunk.

Scooping 34 per cent of the final vote, Becks remains football's number one pin-up. The talented 31-year-old's toned torso, fashion savvy and ever-changing hairstyles have made him something of a style icon. Patriotic fans will be relieved the Real Madrid star seized a crucial one per cent lead against second-placed Portuguese player, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The rippling-muscled Manchester United striker, who was involved in the controversial sending-off of Wayne Rooney, clearly has a huge fan base - he netted 33 per cent of the votes. Despite only playing for one minute against Sweden before leaving the pitch with a knee injury, Michael Owen managed to secure third place in the poll with nine per cent of the final vote. He narrowly beat Italy's Francesco Totti, who lost out on a place in the hellomagazine.com top three, but will still have plenty of celebration after Italy won the championship on Sunday night.

Germany's gorgeous Michael Ballack took fifth place ahead of Japan's honed Hidetoshi Nakata in sixth. Czech midfielder, Pavel Nedved, Ukranian star, Andrij Shevchenko, Brazil's Adriano and Ghana's Michael Essien took the remaining four positions.