Ladies behold: the beauty of Afcon

Fifa Women's World Cup fever has gripped the nation's boys, so thank goodness for the Africa Cup of Nations, which kicked off last weekend. Now, there's eye candy for the girls too.

With the Proteas' dismal performance at the Cricket World Cup in England and Wales, we have turned our focus on the Afcon.

Pity Cameroon - who are the title holders - were stripped of their opportunity to host. We were looking forward to seeing what Cameroon had to offer on and off the field.

Nevertheless, the Egyptians, who have just completed their Ramadaan period, are proving to be worthy hosts.

So engulfed are their soccer fans in the sport that one Mohamed Salah lookalike, an Ahmed Sayed Nada, grew his beard and hair after learning they share a striking resemblance.

As Sayed made his way to the Cairo International Stadium on Wednesday night, many stopped him thinking he was the legendary Liverpool and Egypt player.

Meanwhile, the real Salah scored Egypt's second goal in the game against the once mighty DR Congo boys. Sorry Sayed but Mo still has the original chutzpah you seem to lack.

In fact, all these Pharaoh men are hotter than a heatwave on a blazing day.

Who would have guessed that midfielder Abdallah El-Said is 33 years old? He looks not a day older than 25 and more delicious than their popular dessert, baqlawa.

We must give credit to Bafana. They may not be the 1996 squad of greats, but thus far they are not fairing too badly. They may have lost 1-0 to Ivory Coast this week, but did it respectfully, giving the Elephants a tough time.

Percy Tau and Lebo Mothiba are said to be "speedy, powerful and potent in attack". Judging by their performance, it's obvious these skills apply off the field too.

We bet some of our most loyal soccer supporters didn't know that a total of 46 players in the Afcon play for clubs in Mzansi.

Kaizer Chiefs are the most represented. Zimbabwe's midfielder Khama Billiat is one of them. The only improvement he needs to make is his badly patched blonde mohawk.

Malian footballer Abdoulay Diaby could also use some hair tips - chemically relaxed hair is so 70s.

Gents, please look to Arsenal midfielder and Egyptian national Mohamed Elneny for inspiration. He was known for his luscious, lengthy dreadlocks but his almost bald head gives him a maturity which can make any girl weak at the knees.

Names that come up among the "clever blokes" who seem to think they play better soccer than the others are Sadio Mané , Kalidou Koulibaly and Riyad Mahrez.

Ladies, these are among the most high-profile African footballers.

Mané is the yummy 27-year-old captain of the Senegalese team. He plays alongside Salah for English Premier League club Liverpool, winners of the Uefa Champions League. He's got that Seal vibe on lock.

Koulibaly, who plays for Senegal, is so valued by his Italian club Napoli that the coach begged him to play a match hours after his son was born in 2016.

Another name to note is that of Joash Onyango, who plays for Kenya. This one is getting attention for anything but soccer. In the run up to the tournament, he dyed his facial hair blonde, making him look rather hip.

He trended on social media.

But after shaving it off this week, he has sadly lost his sex appeal.

Beards have been trending in the male world, much to the applause of the fairer sex.

Ladies know that there's much more to a beard than meets the eye. French-born Benin goalkeeper Fabien Ceddy Farnolle wears his well.

Another turn on is a well placed tattoo, like that of our own Ronwen Williams. We hope the goalkeeper's praying hands and the word "inspiration" tattooed on his arm will guide the boys to glory.