MANILA, Philippines — Azkals star Phil Younghusband said he’ll bring it on if called to play as one of two exceptions in the Philippine U22 football team in the coming SEA Games.
“Yes, I think I would,” Philippine Star quoted him as saying.
According to the Star report, it’s not certain if coach Anto Gonzalez will choose two “seniors” to reinforce the squad or if Younghusband will be picked but the door is open to recruit the only Filipino to be named in the list of 61 players with at least 50 goals in international competitions.
Younghusband, 31, is tied at No. 46 in the all-time scoring ladder with Denmark’s Poul Nielsen and Jon Dahl Tomasson, Maldives’ Ali Ashfaq and the United Arab Emirates’ Adrian Al Talyani for notching 52 goals. He did it in 108 caps. The No. 1 scorer is Iran’s Ali Daei with 109 goals in 149 matches and No. 2 is Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo with 85 in 156. Brazil’s Pele is No. 7 with 77 in 92 and Argentina’s Lionel Messi is No. 21 with 65 in 129.
Younghusband has turned down recent offers from Thailand and Malaysia to play for big money as an import in their leagues to stay close to home. “I know the Thai and Malaysian leagues are more stable than ours but if I play overseas, I’ll be out of sight in the Philippines,” he said. “My priority is to help in developing the sport here.” (Twitter photo)
