SINGAPORE — There is only one thing that could induce me to watch grown men squabbling over a football like socialites at a Prada sample sale, and that’s if the players are cute. Okay, so I’m superficial. But I think not a few people would agree that the only thing remotely interesting about the concept of football is David Beckham. He’s still playing right? Right? To tell the truth, my hopes weren’t high for the guys taking part in the second season of Channel 5’s reality competition show, First XI, which aims to whittle down hundreds of amateur footie hopefuls to one dream team capable of taking on the pros. That’s because the best looking people in Season One were the coaches, R Sasikumar and Steve McMahon — both of whom look, er, just as you would expect football coaches to look. But when I saw the first episode last night, I was blown out of the water. Who knew there were this many good-looking guys in Singapore in the first place? Take, for example, Imran Babjee. Let me tell you about Imran. He is 22 years old. When he is not playing football, he is a wedding singer. He is half-Dutch and half-Singaporean. He is also way too gorgeous to be playing a sport in which his teeth could get kicked in at any time. Then there is 21-year-old Christopher Van Huizen. He’s currently serving his National Service in the Navy, but his dream is to be a footballer. He said a bunch of stuff about football — I wasn’t really listening — but anyway, Christopher, you can dribble circles around me any time. Best of all, though, is 23-year-old Christian d’Angelo. Do you know why he is the best reason to watch First XI? Because he is a football-playing pizza maker. I am not making this up. This dude moved here from Italy and works in his uncle’s restaurant. Not only does he have a face that could launch a thousand calzones, he has hands from which emerge delicious discs of crusty, cheesy goodness. He is the perfect man. If it turns out that he can also cook chicken curry, I’m going to ask him to marry me. So, there you have it — some very, very good reasons to watch First XI no matter how you feel about sporting events. Personally, I think this show might even motivate me to get into shape. But first, I think I need to order some pizza. Catch First XI Season Two on Wednesdays at 8pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 5. Sponsored by Gain City | Your Trusted Choice