By Cheska D. Geli
Friday, November 25, 2011
FORMER Philippine national team member Chad Gould, who traces his roots to Boljoon, will arrive in Manila today hoping to secure a slot in the 23-man team that will face David Beckham’s LA Galaxy in a friendly on Dec. 3 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
Gould, who played for the Philippines from 2004 to 2010, was invited by Azkals team manager Dan Palami to play for the national team.
He missed his chance to play for the senior national team in the Fifa World Cup qualifiers after getting an infection from a mosquito bite.
From a 30-man squad, the team will be pruned to 23 and Gould hopes to make it.
“I hope I get in too. I would love to represent Cebu and make the Cebuanos proud,” said Gould.
The team will start training on Monday and they will have the official lineup by Wednesday.
“I always believe in my own ability. I think I will make it but we’ll soon find out.
The Azkals had and will always be my priority,” said Gould, who added he was impressed
by the development of football in the country.
“It’s great that football has taken off in the Philippines. Local players will get better as the popularity grows,” said Gould.
Gould will fly back to London on Dec. 5 but promised to be back in the country next year to help promote beach football in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Gould is also a member of England’s beach soccer team.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 26, 2011.
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I hate it when the media labels a player as a "former national team member" in cases like Gould. It's as if he already retired from international football or something but hasn't! Just because a player hasn't been part of the squad for a while doesn't mean they're a "former" player. Unless the player has retired from international football or has said they have no intention of playing international football, then they can't be a "former" national team player.
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