James Younghusband cut from Azkals
by Lawrence Andrew Fernandez
Azkals coach Thomas Dooley confirmed that James Younghusband will not be a part of the team’s World Cup 2018 qualifiers roster due to his performance. Dooley cleared he has nothing personal against the 28-year-old midfielder/striker and he just wants to build the team from the well-performing players.
Meanwhile, Younghusband’s teammate and Azkals goalkeeper Neil Etheridge said that James will work hard to make the Azkals’ roster for the next competition. Etheridge, together with Stephan Schrock, were originally left out of the team as well. However, both he and Schrock have been reinstated to the squad.
James’ younger brother Phil will headline the Azkals’ World Cup qualifier line-up which includes seasoned players Juan Guirado, Rob Gier, Simone Rota, Misagh Bahadoran, and Manny Ott. Also included roster are Mark Hartmann, Kevin Ingreso, Amani Aguinaldo, Iain Ramsay, Kenshiro Daniels, Stephan Palla, Daisuke Sato, and Luke Woodland. Rounding up the team are Patrick Deyto, Jerry Lucena, Javier Patiño, Patrick Reichelt, Martin Steuble, Tomas Trigo, and Dennis Villanueva.
For the World Cup qualifiers, the Philippines is in Group H with Bahrain, North Korea, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. Their first match will be against Bahrain on June 11, 2015 at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bocaue, Bulacan.
