Francisco Jiménez Tejada - beter known as Xisco - may not be lighting up the pitch but he has sure set the blogs afire. A plethora of photos show him being more-than-euro friendly with some male buddies like the one on the right with the...ahem...fancy shades. And I don't think most euro-guys really need to hold their buds cheeks to prevent escape from a serious liplock. And this little guy returns the favor with gusto. Admittedly the guys a stunner (left) in some of his photos. And a threeway kiss is not unknown among drunken straight plebs. Also some idiots think the sport is inherently gay to begin with. The image doesn't seem to throw Xisco off his game. Though it may throw off his opponents if they are in this position beneath him. The dude maintains his cool and lives his life, sometimes on the wild side but mostly just enjoying himself and that's a good thing. So maybe the hooligans are losing their "punch" just a little bit.

"Those photos are so gay!" (&, yes, that was an intentional double-entendre).

Don Xisco is certainly a stud muffin, that's for sure!...I'd do him!

This guy makes me feel boring! And yes, I think we can consider him openly gay at this point...

I never thought of it that way.

If the Philadelphia Union hired him I would seriously consider going in to debt to get season tickets for next year.

Imagine meeting and greeting this guy at Woody's:



City of Bro-love could use some homo-promo.

Okay, so it aint gonna happen this century.

I can wait.

yikes.

talk about a damned good-looking guy!

some boys are lucky, lucky, lucky.

Despite the slew of yummy chummy photos of Xisco (far left) and a bevy of cute guys, all of the Spanish-language gay blogs that I've seen including this one insist that they will assume that Xisco is just another straight drunk footballer out having fun with the guys. And that "playing gay" is a favorite pasttime of these guys.

Some, like the one I link, assume that at least it is a positive thing that young guys are willing to defy the macho image of the sport, even if it takes a few beers to "act out".

Still, as I recall, alcohol normally releases inhibitions, and people do not do anything under its influence that they didn't want to do in a state of sobriety but did not have the courage. So as far as I am concerned the verdict is still "out", so to speak.

More interesting is another short piece in the link concerning Valencia CF coach Unai Emery who has issued a more or less open invitation to any footballer on his squad who wants to come out so they can manage the impact. Emery says he believes he has had gay colleagues on teams he played for though none have come out to him. This kind of "invitation" may not be unkown in sports (a few coaches in the USA have made similar assertions) but the Basque coach deserves kudos for being honest about setting credible groundrules.