Younghusbands still in the pool for Suzuki Cup - PFF

While Phil and James Younghusband won't be suiting up for the Philippine Azkals in the upcoming Peace Cup, they are still in the pool of players for the Suzuki Cup, Philippine Football Federation technical director Aris Caslib clarified Tuesday in an interview on GMA News TV's News to Go. "Yung darating na Peace Cup…hindi kasama sila sa team. Pero young pinaka-pool ng players ng Suzuki Cup, nandiyan pa silang dalawa," Caslib said. Many were shocked on Sunday when the roster for the Peace Cup was released without the two Younghusbands. The PFF later released a statement explaining the move, saying, "We have asked the players to give their unequivocal commitment to participate fully in the preparations. "Unfortunately, not everyone in the team could assure of us this; a few have already signified their unavailability for some crucial activities leading up to the tournament. While this is admittedly a setback in our plans, we understand that family obligations and club/work commitments sometimes take precedence." Caslib added, "Nagkaroon ng konting problem sa mga schedule ng preparation natin sa team at sa schedules nila. sa bandang huli we just have to follow the preparation ng team natin."    In an interview with GMA News Online's FTW though, the Younghusbands cited the poor communication from the national team as creating the conflicts. "These accounts from the national team, they are late notice. They're last minute….We're given letters explaining the training session schedule and the letter is dated on the day that the session starts," said James. Phil added, "We thought [missing] two weeks [for a football promotion] in preparation for the 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." Caslib though did not point to a particular incident that caused the Younghusbands to get cut from the Peace Cup squad. Some rumors point to contract problems as an issue, but the former National Team coach would only say that "all players should have the same contract." The Younghusbands also deny that money was a problem, saying, "We had our lawyer look at it [the contracts]. 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," Phil said. The English-Filipino footballers have been National Team stalwarts, going back to the 2005 South East Asian Games. James has been capped 47 times with seven goals, while Phil has been capped 37 times with 26 goals. Off the field, the two have been almost synonymous with the Philippine National Team, a fact that Caslib even admits, saying that their impact both on and off the field could not be qualified. Despite not being on the Peace Cup roster, both Younghusbands are eager to wear the Philippine colors again though. "They said we're not involved in the Peace Cup, so we're hoping in the next games we can get the call-up again. If we get the call-up, we'll be there," said Phil. "If we're called upon, we'd be there in a heartbeat," James added.  - AMD, GMA News