Philippines’ Younghusband brothers grateful to Football Manager

Phil (in white in picture) and his older brother James came to the limelight through Football Manager

Football Manager is often considered to be more than just a game for their numerous addicts all over the world but for a couple of Philippines footballers it turned out to be a tool that shaped their career, at least at international level.

James and Phil Younghusband were born in Surrey, England and spent their entire youth career at Chelsea. The brothers also earned a professional contract there but their big career break came in 2005 when they were invited by the Philippines federation to play for their under-23 team.

Interestingly the eligibility of the Younghusband brothers, who are of Filipino origin, to play for Philippines was alerted to the Philippines federation by an anonymous Football Manager gamer. The brothers accepted the invitation and ever since making their under-23 debut, they have gone on to become stars for the senior national team and are currently settled in the Philippines playing for Loyola FC.

In a conversation with Sporstkeeda, ahead of Philippines’ international friendly against India in Siliguri on Friday, the Younghusband brothers recalled that incredible story that earned them their international bow.

“I still remember the day when our club Chelsea informed that Philippines have invited us to play for them. When we reached the Philippines, we were told that it was a kid who alerted them about our Filipino origins as he had seen our names in the Football Manager game. It was a very unique incident but turned out well for us as we went on to play for the Philippines at international level,” striker Phil, who has scored 33 goals in 52 appearances for the South-East Asian nation, told Sportskeeda.

His older brother, James, who is a midfielder and has won 60 caps for the Azkals, added, “I am really grateful to the Football Manager game and to that boy who informed the federation about us.”

The brothers also enjoy playing Football Manager themselves with Phil revealing that he usually manages his former club Chelsea and even Manchester United in the game.

“I am quite successful in the game as I have a lot of money to spend at those two clubs,” Phil stated.

Looking back on his time at Chelsea, where he spent eight years as a youth player and trained with the senior team under Jose Mourinho, 26-year-old Phil talked about the transition at the west London club when Roman Abramovich took over

“Well I have great memories from my time at Chelsea. I was there at the club before Abramovich became the owner and it was quite different there back then. But things changed a lot once he bought the club and of course it became difficult for youngsters like me to get into the first team as I had so many top players ahead of me like Drogba. But it was a great experience training with those great players under Mourinho,” Phil recalled.

The Indian team doesn’t need Football Manager to know about the Younghusband brothers as the duo was instrumental in Philippines’ 2-0 win at the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. Wim Koevermans’ side will have to keep these two Chelsea youth products quiet if they want to get a result tomorrow.