Phil Younghusband regains touch, shares credit with rest of Azkals

MANILA, Philippines—Misfiring in the past three matches, Philippine Azkals striker Phil Younghusband couldn’t have picked a better setting to recover his scoring touch.

Criticized by his coach, the 24-year-old standout of the Loyola Meralco Sparks in the United Football League rose to the challenge at the Rizal Memorial Stadium Tuesday night by leading the Azkals to a 4-0 drubbing of higher-ranked Nepal in an international friendly.

“Phil has been criticized but he gave me a very good answer tonight,” said Azkals coach Michael Weiss of Younghusband, on Tuesday.

The striker has jacked up his international goal tally to 18 since debuting for the national side in 2006.

Younghusband, who scored one of the two goals that boosted the Azkals past Vietnam in a stunning 2-0 upset in the 2010 Suzuki Cup, tormented the Nepalese defense with his clinical finishing and playmaking.

His older brother, James, was also on target with his 30th-minute strike that made it 2-0 for the Azkals.

Phil struck the opening goal in the 17th minute after he was set free by a through ball by Fil-Dutch playmaker Paul Mulders, before doubling his tally 10 minutes into the second half with a well-placed shot from a Dennis Cagara pass.

Getting a feed from Cagara on the left late in the match, Younghusband also set up Matthew Hartmann for the fourth goal that completed the rout in the 89th minute.

“He (Younghusband) tore us apart,” said Nepal coach Graham Paul Roberts. “He was the best player by far. We never turned up tonight, so we don’t deserve any credit. But that’s not to take anything away from the Philippines. They were fantastic.”

Younghusband, who dedicated his goal-scoring exploits to his late father, Philip, and mother, Susan—who died only last month—was quick to share the credit with his teammates.

“I’ve been playing for the national team the past six years,” he said. “Now we have players who compliment each other.

“I couldn’t score if it wasn’t for my teammates. It’s one of my better games because I played with better players. We have a team that can potentially be very good in the future.”