By Cedelf P. Tupas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Unattached the past couple of years, Filipino-British brothers Phil and James Younghusband are set to resurrect their club football careers.
The Younghusband brothers are close to signing a deal with Indonesian club Jakarta 1928 FC, which is seeing action in the newly formed Indonesia Premier League (LPI).
Franco Lorenzo, a member of the management team of the Philippine football team, who has been negotiating for the Younghusbands, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer last Sunday that the deal would be finalized within the week.
Jakarta 1928 officials are arriving in Manila on Wednesday for a possible contract signing, according to Lorenzo.
Lorenzo did not disclose contract terms, but said the Indonesian club had enough funds to convince the brothers, who shone for the Azkals during the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup.
The 19-club LPI, Indonesia’s rebel football league because it competes with the Indonesia Super League under the Indonesia Football Association and is backed by oil tycoon Arifin Pangoro, kicked off last January 8.
Indonesian players seeing action in the LPI have been warned that they would not be considered for the national team.
The league, however, has lured one of the country’s more popular teams, Persema Malang, which boasts Indonesia national team star striker Irfan Bachdim.
The Younghusband brothers gained a lot of following in Jakarta when the Philippines played Indonesia in the semifinals. The Azkals lost the two legs via similar 1-nil scorelines.
I would have actually wanted them (or at least Phil) to get a deal in a bigger and more competitive league. No offense to the Indonesia league, but these boys were on the Chelsea reserve.
ReplyDeleteI guess they really have fallen so far that not even Asia clubs in Japan or Korea wanted to sign them.
I think, this is one step before they move to bigger clubs in Europe, many former ISL players are now actually play in Europe, for example, one of our ISL top scorer is now playing in Ligue one with Nantes.
ReplyDeleteThe most important thing is that those brothers get the exposure they need to regain their fitness level. When i saw them playing in Jakarta, they all look very tired after 10 minutes of the second half.
When their fitness level and composure will back to normal, I am sure many European clubs will interested on signing them.
my 2cent from Indonesian perspective.
cheers
I heard that the Azkals might be holding a training camp in Germany in June prior to World Cup qualifying to take advantage of the German offer. That would be the best time for them to field offers since there will be a lot of European scouts watching and esp. if they will be having friendlies with other German clubs.
ReplyDeleteIf they do sign an Indo contract, just make it short term till May or June. Besides there is always the danger of the Indo federation taking the case of the rebel league to FIFA or AFC and having them banned from international competition.
welcome to indonesia ....but dont play for indonesian primer league , its dnt hv FIFA's license......just choose ono of club from ISL (indonesia super league)
ReplyDeleteI hope somebody told the Younghusband's about this, Im sure they already know this. They wont jump into something without checking right? Im not really sure whats up with the league in Indonesia, but if that is true, then that is a risk for our players.
ReplyDeleteIf they sign for this Indonesian club they will probably not be playing in AFC Challenge Cup
ReplyDeleteapparently this is not true.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope they get more offers. Ideally it would be good if they can get into a team who could end up in the AFC Champions League. But yes, i think their fitness will be put into account and I wish them luck as their success is the success of the Philippines.
ReplyDeleteTheres no future playing in Indonesia. Where are the experts of these blog? They cant hide hundreds of reasons why.
ReplyDelete