Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo has become the most sought after World Cup player on Google.

As the World Cup starts in South Africa, the curiosity in players participating in the game is also heightened, but Ronaldo, 25, has gained the most attention.

In a blog post on June 11, Google said, "In search, the winning player is already clear: Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese team captain and talented forward."

In addition to Ronaldo, the other players in the public interest include Brazil's Kaka, England's Wayne Rooney, Argentina's Lionel Messi and Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands.

Google added that there was much more interest online in injured Dutch winger Arjen Robben than there was in the elections in the Netherlands.

"In the days leading up to the June 9 elections, between four and five times as many searches were done for Robben than either of the two popular candidates," Google stated.

Google said World Cup searches were spiking "although overall World Cup buzz seems to be off to a slower start in 2010 than in the months leading up to the 2006 tournament, based on global trends". (With Inputs from Agencies)