Younghusbands: 'Extracurricular activities' are our jobs

 

These were the words of Azkals striker Phil Younghusband, as he and brother James sat down with GMA News Online's FTW for an exclusive interview.

 

After training with the Azkals for the Peace Cup, the brothers were told Sunday morning by National Team head coach Michael Weiss that they are being left out of the line-up for the competition starting Tuesday.

 

Extracurricular activities

 

In a press conference on Monday, Weiss particularly stated that he tried to understand the brothers' "extracurricular activites", a term the Younghusbands disagreed with. 

 

"Those 'extracurricular activities' are our jobs," said James.

 

"That's the wrong term, 'extracurricular'," stressed Phil.

 

"We're the breadwinners of our family. We have a little sister we look after. The other players understand how everything is. There are players in the same position as us. There are players who coach for a living," added James. He and Phil financially support a younger sister as both of their parents have passed away.

 

"(UP football team coach) Anto (Gonzales) is our teammate and our friend. He's in the same position as us. He has a job," said Phil. 

 

Gonzales, however, was not left out of the lineup for the Peace Cup. 

 

Demands

 

The Azkals management also disclosed that there were both economic and non-economic demands set by the brothers that they could not meet.

 

"We've never demanded anything from management," James said.

 

"In terms of money, they offered contracts to players. Obviously, you don't sign contracts right away. We had our lawyer look at it. We came up with a counter-offer...They said it was unacceptable. They couldn't afford it. So we said fine, we'll go back to the numbers you gave us," said Phil. 

 

The issue for the Younghusbands was not time on the pitch, but the demands made of them off it.

 

"The contract they gave us was quite general. It said to attend all promotions and advertising. All trainings, obviously all trainings on the field, we'll be there. But we just let them know there has to be details in the contract regarding which promotions and which advertising because it may be in conflict with other contracts. The next thing we know, the game comes, Azkals versus Meralco. 

 

"We were told not to play for Azkals. Before we arrived, the agreement was we'd play for both teams: one in one half, one team in the other to be fair so that's what we assumed. [We] got a call from Coach Weiss saying don't play for Azkals, just play for Meralco so we followed the coach. 

 

"Next thing we know, players weren't happy with us, coaches aren't happy with us, the staff wasn't happy with us and Coach Weiss, his team talk before the game was James and I had chosen Meralco over the Azkals," recounted Phil. 

 

"We heard from fellow teammates that was their team talk. We explained to the players this was not our decision. This was the management's decision for us to play for LMS (Loyola Meralco Sparks)," added James.

 

Broken communication lines

 

The brothers expressed their desire to remain in contact with the team to avoid miscommunications. However, since the announcement of their non-inclusion in the lineup, nobody from the Azkals management has stayed in contact with the two.

 

Phil also narrated how he was called for a meeting with the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), but was shocked to find out that only the organization's lawyer was present:

 

"The PFF called for a meeting with me so I expected the PFF to be there. It was the attorney. No Coach Weiss, no (President) Nonong (Araneta). Not even the Secretary General (Roland Tulay). So I told him, sometimes, miscommunications happen. Like for instance, I may say something to you now and you may deliver it to everyone else differently. He said 'No, you don't know me. That wouldn't happen.' And look, it's happened."

 

The failure of the two sides to communicate has resulted in the brothers missing the Azkals' US training camp for an exhibition event sponsored by one of Phil's endorsements.

 

"These accounts from the national team, they are late notice. They're last minute. Basically, you don't have time to prepare yourself. We're given letters explaining the training session schedule and the letter is dated on the day that the session starts," shared James.

 

"We just hope communication improves," added Phil.

 

"We had a commitment and it was for the promotion of football. Other than the Azkals, we have work which involves playing for Meralco and promoting football as well with the Academy and with other events. So we had to work. We wanted to do it for the promotion of football and it's for a great cause and we thought (missing) two weeks in preparation for Suzuki cup, we still had three or four months so we felt two weeks, we can join the team after the camp and we've been to every training," said Phil.

 

With all the issues the brothers face, what is clear is that they hope to maintain a good relationship with their teammates until the situation with the team management improves.

 

"We wanted to make it clear with the players. We wanted to make sure they knew the truth. We don't want friction between us. They're our friends. They're not just our teammates; they're our friends. 

"It's not good if they think we're abandoning them and we're choosing other things over them. We want them to know we wanna play with them and be with the team. We've tried to make it a point within ourselves to get in contact with the players and let them know," said Phil.

 

The brothers stressed that they are most willing to play for the team anytime they are called to do so, as they continue to try to strike a balance between giving time for the flag and earning a living for their family.

 

"It's down to compromise. Football is not at the point where we can earn a living just through playing football. Right now, we can't say we're gonna stop working. All our work is about promoting football anyway," ended Phil. — DVM, GMA News