Talk about bizarre - here's a photo of Mexican Clausura side Club Tijuana and their Man-Dog 'Mascot' modelling the team's 2012/2013 kit last night! Yes, yes.. it's pretty extraño (strange) but it actually makes a lot of sense when we tell you that it's modelled after the Xoloitzcuintle, a famous Mexican dog which archeologists believe have existed for over 3,000 years.

(This entry is formulated based on the transcript of the media release from the Football Association of Singapore)
Picture credit: FAS
SINGAPORE, 15 JANUARY 2012 – The Courts Young Lions emerged victorious over the H-TWO-O Ultimate Dream Team after a nerve-wrecking penalty shoot-out in a match that was played at Jalan Besar Stadium this evening.

After weeks of speculation within the local football fraternity, former Gombak United coach Darren Stewart (file pictured right) is confirmed as Balestier Khalsa coach for the upcoming 2012 season.
A former Australian international himself, Stewart starred for the Tigers when they were still called Balestier Central in the S.

In a match in which the build-up was impossible to ignore, Liverpool once again work themselves into a corner, failing to create anything dangerous in a match that they ultimately looked lucky to get a point from. It's always the same story with this iteration of Liverpool looking promising early, create a few clear-cut chances, and then piss it all away with dire football that isn't deserving of three points, let alone one.

By Chris Wright

Ajax whooped Group D stragglers Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 in Amsterdam last night, with Danish tyro Christian Eriksen providing the lion's share of the craft and invention including this borderline pornographic backheel assist for Gregory van der Wiel's opener.

It was only from my Facebook feed that I came to know today's significance.
Twelve years ago today, Singapore football mourned the loss of one of its best players - Borhan Abu Samah aka "Russian Tank".
Known for his tough and uncompromising tackles during his days, the former Lion, who once ply his professional trade with the great Pahang side in the Malaysian League that featured the likes of Fandi Ahmad, V Sundramoorthy, Dollah Salleh and Zainal Abidin Hassan, succumbed to liver cancer that ended his life at the age of 34.

Liverpool legend John Barnes believes that Liverpool rely too much on Luis Suarez, even going so far as to suggest that without the Uruguayan striker, the club would struggle to win games. Do you agree?
Barnes told Goal.com:
"Luis Suarez is fantastic but I wish it was not all about Gerrard and Suarez.

Personally I would not invite a lion to my wedding reception but hey, that's just me. I also wouldn't let him sign the guestbook because, being a lion, he is probably an illiterate. Or maybe he can read and write and actually just wants "to pee in a pod" (whatever that is).

By Chris Wright

Look what was waiting for us on the doormat this morning, a padded envelope containing a few photos of the brand new Adidas Scotland home shirt for 2012/13...

We'll have more photos (and a wee promo video) up shortly.

The embossing across the stomach, which incorporates elements of both the old and new Hampden Park, the Lion Rampant, the Thistle, the 1928 ball used in the 5-1 demolition of England at Wembley Stadium, the Fleur De Lis and the date 1873, i.

What's this tipos,... Black Sunday?! No, it's just Madrid and Barca fighting it out in black to see who comes up tops in the Spanish league! And they're both tied in first spot with Levante after a 4-0 (Madrid) and 1-0 (Barca) victory respectively.

By Chris Wright

Some truly pap 'action' from the Polish Cup now, as Okocimski Brzesko defender Dawid Mieczkowski etches his name on the scoresheet after only 36 seconds of their game against Slask Wroclaw, lobbing into his own net from 25-yards though frankly, we reckon 'keeper Michal Oswiecimka deserves the lion's share of the post-match kicking for his feeble attempts to rectify the situation.

Well we got back on track a little bit today, battling back from a one goal deficit to defeat Shrewsbury Town 3-1. Some of the same worries are still there, of course, but at least we can enjoy ourselves for now. Before getting into the recap, I want to apologize to the readers for a couple of things.

I can no longer reach for excuses, it is a hard and simple fact that we have not defended well enough as a unit for a long time, and it has cost us points time and time and time again. Our shambolic and sloppy defending cost us another three points today against a poor Blackburn side. Amazingly we could still have won the game despite conceding four, we created the lion's share of the chances

By Chris Wright

In an interview with The People, Carlos Tevez has admitted he was so depressed over the summer that he developed a bit of a binge-eating 'crisis' a weighty problem that presumably entailed no small amount of barbecued steak:

"I'm not the shit that they say I am.

I stole this image from We Ain't Got No History. I'd apologize, but this is just too damn good. I had to snatch it. They'll understand.

This is not a furry wall.

Do your worst. Or best. Whatever.

We're now at a beautiful new site called the Lion of Vienna Suite! Go check it out

Lion of Vienna Suite Covering Bolton Wanderers Now On SBN

Another English Premier League teams gets a dedicated site on the network. Go say hello, maybe you're a fan.

Welcome To The Lion's Liar Dynamo Dresden 4-0 FC Union Berlin (12:08:11) If someone asked me to list the reasons why I love football in Germany, I could probably fill up two sides of A4 about the stadiums alone, writes David Tunnicliffe. However, if I was to do the opposite and try and write a list of things I hate about German football, it would contain one, solitary item: Friday 6 p.

A tad un-PC Aston Villa's mascot is currently Hercules Lion. He is everything you want in a mascot: jovial, sporty and a bit of cheeky chap. While there is a theme of African heritage running through the narrative of Villa mascots past and present, this wasn't always portrayed in quite as politically correct or positive [.

Another week, another disappointing performance for RBNY. Par for the course, I would say (No Backe reference intended). With the lowly Fire in town, you'd probably expect a win in front of the sell out crowd at RBA... who am I kidding, we were all pretty much expecting the worst the way things have been going lately.

By Chris Wright

Liverpool have been busying hosting a media day at Melwood today and the club took the chance to round up the fruits of their summer wranglings Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Doni and Stewart Downing for a few snaps outside with Dr King Kenneth.

This 'ere is what the lion's share of £50 million gets you these days.

Chelsea tour blog (day two): Ashley Cole and co are ...Here to Stay and Stamford the Lion comes clean

Chelsea are bringing a taste of the Premier League to Asia and our very own John Cross is on the road with them, bringing you all the behind-the-scenes gossip and news.

With a beautiful flick on, Laruen Cheney opened up the early scoring for the USWNT in the 9th minute. Cheney wasn't done though, she later set up a corner which Abby Wambach put into the back of the net with emphasis late in the second half to break open a tense draw that saw France dominating possession and getting a lion's share of the good shots.

Italian Serie club SSC Napoli has unveiled its highly-anticipated Macron 2011/12 home kit along with new signing Swiss international Gökhan Inler. The 11/12 Napoli jersey and Inler were presented via a press conference on a cruise ship Monday that involved Inler wearing the new shirt and a lion's mask.

Aurelio de Laurentiis, owner of Napoli, would certainly know how to put on a show, being a Hollywood producer and all.

So when announcing his major new signing, he did just that, putting on a show by having the "mystery man" don a lion's mask before the jig was up upon revealing the number.

It wasn't the opening match (that went to France v Nigeria), but the home side came out swinging. Despite being barely out-possessed (51 to 49%), Germany had the lion's share of shots 21 to 6 although the shots on goal belie the dominance Germany showed (9 SOG to 1 SOG). Either way, the hosts walk away victors 2-1.

Lucas Leiva is ready to step into the lion's den and spearhead Brazil's push for an historic triumph. The Liverpool midfielder is in Argentina preparing for the Copa America which gets under way next Friday.
It will be Lucas' first senior tournament with the Samba stars who are gunning for an unprecedented hat-trick of South American titles.

With the U-17 MNT already having dropped a 2-1 decision to Uzbekistan in their second World Cup group match today, the senior side is now less than an hour away from their Gold Cup final four battle with Panama.Bob Bradley has started the same eleven that worked the lion's share against Jamaica, with Landon Donovan again among the subs:Howard; Cherundolo, Goodson, Bocanegra, Lichaj, Bradley,

We were fortunate enough to have a group of "Friends of the Nest" on the ground in Portland this past Sunday. Tom Faust did us the favor of capturing some video footage, including a pre-game predictions from the Thirsty Lion, half time comments and even the equalizing penalty by DeRo. In addition to the video, which you can view above, Tom took some shots around the ground and from his vantage point close to the Timbers Army.

Samir Nasri, a photo by Blues.Lion on Flickr.

Speaking to the News Of The World, Samir is impressed that Wayne Rooney is a challenger and described him as 'archetype of the modern striker'. The 23-years-old Frenchman said:

What impresses the most about [Wayne Rooney] is his first touch, his ball control.

Well, that was nice, wasn't it? Does it make up for the collapse we've had since the end of February? No, certainly not. Did it revive any hopes of winning a trophy for us this season? Certainly not. But does it feel great to throw a wrench in United's title parade, beat them for the first time in years, and watch them walk off the Emirates pitch as losers?

It's as frustrating as it is predictable.

How many times have we seen the following?:

1. Arsenal concede a late goal to drop points?
2. Arsenal concede a goal from sloppy set piece defending?
3. Arsenal enjoy the lion's share of possession but unable to convert it into chances?

By Jason Davis – WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 22, 2011) US Soccer Players -- The action, so to speak, when it come to the MLS standings happens on two levels, just as it does in most league around the World. The top of the table gets the lion's share of attention, and rightly so. Even in MLS, where the top points earner wins a secondary trophy, the race for first place is hotly contested.

Real Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano ripped into Jose Mourinho for his tactics in the 1-1 draw against Barcelona, saying the team played like a mouse against a lion of a Catalan side.

Di Stefano, Madrid's honorary president, wrote in his weekly column in sports newspaper Marca on Monday that the Portuguese coach's team showed no "personality" after a result Saturday that practically clinches Barcelona's third straight league trophy.

As much a staple in your Monday as cursing the alarm clock, but significantly less painful...Let's just start with the MLS Goal of the Week nominees. I gotta go with Khari Stephenson, you all know how I love those "don't wake him" crackers.Speaking of MLS, it's a real shame they never managed to lure Boca Juniors free kick demon Juan Riquelme.

Gazzetta dello Sport Inter, you're unique Epic game at Munich: comeback and triumph. The Nerazzurri are through to the Quarter-Finals Mou calls Moratti to congratulate him. Editorial: Samuel, Lion of Italy Kaka to Milan: Here's why it's possible Abidal shock: Liver tumour will be operated on Corriere dello Sport Fairytale Inter Eto'o.

I'm a little late putting up these picture's because it took me that long to recover. The Strikers held their first Pub Crawl which helped fans and staff reach out to soccer fans that support European teams. We met up with Newcastle, Celtic and all sorts of casual followers of the beautiful game.
The schedule was to cover 3 pubs in the Broward/Palm Beach County areas closer to Lockhart Stadium.

On the way to my soccer game I snapped this quick pictureI have to say, the Whitecaps have impressed me. I'm not really talking about on the field results (most recently a 2-2 draw with the U-18 USA mens national team), I'm talking more about the promotion campaign which has been taking place the past few days.

Certain college programs are associated with certain coaches in MLS. Here we are used to Sigi Schmid picking UCLA or other southern California kids. FC Dallas has gotten used to their coach picking guys from Southern Methodist University. In both cases this is because the coach used to be there. The Seattle Sounders went a little off the board with their 2nd pick, when they picked Juan Cruz out of SMU.

By Chris Wright

RIP Bolton and England striker Nat 'Lofty' Lofthouse, who died peacefully on Saturday evening, aged 85...

(video via BBC Sport)

The phrase "the word 'legend' is overused these days" is undeniably overused itself these days, but with Nat's passing goes a true giant of the game which his goalscoring record (255 goals in 452 Bolton appearances and 30 goals in just 33 England starts, one of the best international goal-to-game records of all time) duly attests to.