Phillip James Placer Younghusband was a Filipino-British Football player and a member of the Philippine Azkals, the national football team of the Philippines. Football was not so popular in the Philippines compared to other Asian countries, for some reasons that the Filipinos loved the sports of Basketball that was introduced by the Americans compared to Football that was played mostly by Europeans.
Phil Younghusband was one of the most popular member of the Philippine Azkals, the National Football Team of the Philippines. He was born on August 4, 1987, in Ashford, Middlesex, England to an English Father and a Filipina Mom. This young footballer stands 5 ft. 11 in. (1.8o cm.) in height. His brother James Younghusband was also a member of the Azkals.
Before coming to the Philippines to play for the Philippine National Football Team. He plays as a reserved for the Chelsea Football Club, one of the major football club in Europe. The two Younghusband have studied football under the Chelsea Football Academy. They even have a EUFA coaching badge, for the striker Phil was no. 2 and no. 1 for his older brother James, a midfielder.
After the successful semifinals stint of the Philippine Azkals, Phil and James Younghusband was invited by the Jakarta 1928 Football Club to play for the team in Indonesia. Their victory over Vietnam which was considered by analysts as the biggest upset in any football match for the year 2010 proved to be the main reasons why football now is becoming more and more popular in the Philippines.
The Azkals triumphant entry to the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup was a breakthrough in Philippine Football. Having ignored by Filipinos for the past years, football, the world’s most popular sport are getting noticed nowadays. Azkal is a Filipino term of any dog who have gone astray. The term could be related to the National Football program of the Philippines who received almost nothing from the national government and relies mostly on private organizations for support.
The Azkals will play against Mongolia for the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup this coming February 9, 2011 to be held at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City.
According to some records, one of the famous Filipino Footballers of all-time was Paulino Alcantara Riestra, a native of Ilo-ilo. He played for the Football Club Barcelona and considered as the club’s all-time leading scorer with 357 goals in his professional career as a football player. An amazing feat for a Filipino.
The journey of Younghusband from the United Kingdom to the Philippines was indeed not astray. According to the latest reports, Younghusband denied the rumors that he is leaving the Azkals and will play for the Indonesian Team. His focus right now is to help improve the football awareness of the Filipinos. Together with his brother James they formed the Younghusband Football Academy to teach the new generations of Filipinos about Football.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTMS1DLCLc[/youtube]
