Azkals bare Younghusband-less roster for Peace Cup

Azkals coach Hans Michael Weiss. InterAKTV/Roy Afable

And then there were no Younghusband brothers.

The Philippine national men’s football team released Sunday its roster for the upcoming Philippine Football Peace Cup, with Azkals stars Phil and James Younghusband curiously missing the squad.

Tapped by coach Hans Michael Weiss to be part of the Azkals are David Basa, Patrick Reichelt, Misagh Bahadoran, Marvin Angeles, Marwin Angeles, Carli de Murga, Jeffrey Christiaens, Denis Wolf, Matthew Uy and Demitrius Omphroy of Global FC; Roel Gener, Ed Sacapano and Nestorio Margarse of Philippine Army Fritz & Macziol; Ref Cuaresma and Anto Gonzalez of the Loyola Meralco Sparks; Jason Sabio and OJ Porteria of Kaya FC; Chieffy Caligdong and Ian Araneta of Philippine Air Force Phoenix; and Jason De jong of Penson Stallion Giligan’s.

Earlier, InterAKTV broke the news that Phil and James won’t be part of the team in the Peace Cup, with Weiss informing them only through a text message.

“James sorry for not being able to talk to you personally… so I have to inform you per text that Phil and you are not included in the list for the Peace Cup… anything else after remains to be seen… take care and all the best! MW” wrote Weiss in a text message to James.

The Younghusbands’ absence could be a big loss to the Azkals, which have failed to perform well when they are not with the team. When the brothers begged off from the team’s training tour in the United States last August due to prior commitments, the Azkals got walloped by semi-professional squad Chicago Inferno, 3-1.

The Filipinos also missed the services of Phil and James in their 2-1 loss against Laos last September 10, which turned ugly after players from both squads engaged in physical altercations. The brothers had flown back to the country to commemorate the death anniversary of their mother.

The Azkals will face Guam on Tuesday, Macau on Thursday and Chinese Taipei on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium for the Peace Cup. They are using the matches to prepare for the 2012 ASEAN Football Federation Suzuki Cup in November, where they look to surpass their historic semifinal run in the same tournament two years ago.

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