Phil and James Younghusband open up on their retirement from football

A week after James Younghusband officially announced his retirement from football, he and his brother Phil opened up on their decision to hang up their boots.

In an interview on the Cross Over podcast, the two Azkal stars said they made up their minds after experiencing several uncertainties in their career.

Phil, who retired in November last year, said his morale was very low after the folding of the Davao Aguilas Football Club and coming off the bench in the 2019 Asian Cup.

"I was getting married at that time, losing my job when I knew I had to fund a wedding," he said. "I just felt very unmotivated with football so those successive blows really took its toll on me and I knew I didn't wanna feel that again."

Phil said he and his wife, Margaret Hall, were starting a family and that was his priority.

"You are gonna want to support [your family] and make sure they are never in a vulnerable position so I decided I wanna be in a position where I can support them and give them security," he said.

"Playing in Philippine football is not gonna give me that because there's been numerous times clubs folded and look what's going on now, it's really tough," he added.

James, meanwhile, said he decided to retire due the pandemic situation putting the football season on hold.

"Just felt with the momentum of being on break, I had to announce it now and seeing around, waiting around, wondering when the league would restart but I felt it was time to announce it," he said.

He was ready to hang it up after winning the 2019 PFL and Copa Paulino Alcantara double as well as playing in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League and the AFC Cup, but he originally planned to finish the 2020 season with Ceres Football Club.

But with the lockdown, James said he had a lot of time to think and evaluate himself.

"I felt there's other things in life I want to experience as well and a new chapter to begin," he said. 

The brothers, however, said that this is not yet the end of their story with Philippine football.

"Football is constantly evolving so we need to go see world football and experience different styles, different tactics, and different ideas and be able to bring that back to the Philippines to help it grow," Phil said. —Justin Kenneth Carandang/MGP, GMA News