BLEACHERS BREW EST. MAY 2006

Someone asked me how my blog and newspaper column came to be titled "Bleachers Brew". It's like this, it's an amalgam of sorts of two things: The bleachers area in the stadium/arena where I used to sit when I would watch baseball, football, and basketball games and Miles Davis' great jazz album Bitches Brew. That's how it got culled together. I originally planned on calling it "The View from the Big Chair" that is a nod to Tears For Fear's second album, Songs from the Big Chair. So there.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Clearing the air of the return of the Younghusband brothers to national duty


Let’s try to clear the air here.

Last week, Loyola Meralco Sparks club president Randy Roxas wrote the Philippine Football Federation asking who among the players will be released for the Middle East friendlies of the national team and the federation asked for two: midfielder Anto Gonzales and goalkeeper Ref Cuaresma.

Knowing that, arrangements were made for Gonzales to fly out from Singapore to Bahrain while Cuaresma went back home to Manila to attend to something before flying out the next day.

While in preparation for the first leg of the semifinals series with Tampines Rovers, James and Phil Younghusband were recalled for duty. A few days after that they informed PFF President Mariano Araneta of their rejoining the squad but if they could fly out on October 10. They didn’t know they were to be recalled so they agreed to an engagement with Samsung which is the corporate sponsor of Chelsea. And since the brothers run the local Chelsea school, aligning with the global technological giant, the English club’s sponsor, makes sense (it is mandated actually). They did agree to also push back some other commitments also next week so they could be with the national team. They also got in touch with national team management regarding visas to the Gulf State and they were informed that they will receive their visas when they arrive in Bahrain.

Araneta got back to them and said that if they leave for Bahrain on the 10th that meant the brother arriving on the morning of the match and with no chance of recovery to play. So as per the advise of national team management, they could take the extra day of rest and to fly out on the 12th of October to instead be available for the Kuwait game.

In an interview with the brothers, they said that they would have wanted to rejoin the team in Bahrain but will acquiesce to the PFF. Their staying behind for a few days now gives them the opportunity to play with Loyola in their opening UFL Cup assignment against Laos later tonight at the University of Makati.



22 comments:

  1. pff has been really unfair to the brothers..at least someone who knows the real story has cleared it up...kudos

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like reading your column, but I don't really like what the YH brothers are doing. They are just playing at their convenience. They are not even at the level of Manny Pacquiao

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. why what level is manny pacquiao at? he only challenged patsies, has beens, over the hill type of fighters.

      Delete
    2. ULUL tanga ka talaga hindi ka maka intindi tanga!!!

      Delete
    3. Kung convEnience lang pag uusapan di tinanggap na sana nila ang offer before ng Indonesian club na nag alok sa kanila ng millions!out of pagmamahal sa Azkals TINANGGIHAN NILA!Kahit sinong sumisikat natural magiging busy at kabi-kabila ang offers dapat maintindihan yan ng PFF! the least they could do is FEEL GLAD AND SUPPORT ANY OF THEIR PLAYERS WHO GETS GOOD OFFERS!

      What i think is bad with PFF is they are asking for peoples' support but they themselves DOES NOT REALLY support each others! kahit na SINO man na sumikat na member means DAGDAG SIKAT din para sa AZKAl as a WHOLE! FC BArcelona and FC Madrid are so popular bec. of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi; maraming fans natural maraming indorsements. In the future hindi lang sa YHbros mangyayari yan nauna lang sila marami pang sisikat na iba pero sana understand natin sila na sa buhay MINSAN lang dumarating ang SUWERTE kaya sinsamantala na nila! Minsan masuwerte pa nga tayo dahil may parents pa tayo sila wala na, Iyong mga INGGETERO mag sumikap para sumikat din!

      Delete
    4. IF PFF wants peoples' support, they tehmselves should support each other! Walang di nakukuha sa magandang usapan! ika nga ni Boy Abunda "TARA USAP TAYO"

      Delete
    5. Its simple. Other azkals players in europe only play when their club can release them. We dont hear anything about this. They earn more definitely. Even ronaldo and messi prioritize their club first. The YH bros Are a big part of the azkals success and the rise of ph football. We need to face reality and admit that our national team salary will not suffice and just be greatful that these fil foreign players are willing to play and develop football in our country.

      Delete
  3. "If we get the call-up, we'll be there. We'd be there in a heartbeat." .....

    ReplyDelete
  4. "If we get the call-up, we'll be there. We'd be there in a heartbeat."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Then they will face a criminal case for breach of contract bcoz they had made commitment with corporate sponsor prior to their call up. These corporate sponsors wont take no or late for an answer. It's good that PFF understand the situation.

      Delete
  5. Your column had at least cleared the controversy. I hope people who wanted the YH bros down be enlightened. Please note that the brothers had sacrificed a lot for the NT.

    ReplyDelete
  6. then why not play for our NT instead of YHB brothers, seems like you have the capability of leveling with MP than the later.kudos to your comment hater

    ReplyDelete
  7. They are just saying things about commitment. The games of our NT should be ultimately important since there are a lot of things involved in it. Both financially, manpower and pride.
    Yes the YHs are needed and good that they have financial stuff that would help their livelihood. But hey, they would not be this famous if not for the NT.
    They just play around right now with the NT. Tama lang na di sila sinama sa Peace Cup.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Please do not compare the YH bros with M. Pacquiao, they have different sports and diff situations.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I read they have plans of having a practice camp in japan. Is this confirmed?

    ReplyDelete
  10. For me, this just sounds like two parties agreeing to an amicable decision. Kudos to PFF and the Younghusbands for talking it out and seeing eye to eye. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. i agree. the yh brothers thought they are like messi or ronaldo that if they are not with the team, that team will lose or no one will sit in the stadium to watch the game.

    ReplyDelete
  12. You mean they assumed they weren't going to be recalled? So because they're so busy they went ahead with their other plans. Okaaay. They knew there was a good chance they were going to be called up to the squad for the friendlies, isn't that why they put it out there even after their exclusion from the Peace Cup that they would still make themselves available to the squad if they were ever needed? They're over-booked, plain and simple. They can't keep saying it's not their fault if their super busy schedules prevent them from NT duties. Granted, the PFF is quite disorganized, but it's always been that way and the brothers always found a way before to be available.

    The Azkals still need them but maybe they think they don't need the Azkals anymore. If they're too in demand outside of the NT and can't prioritize them anymore, then I guess the team will just have to find a way to function with or without them. It worked for the Peace Cup, probably not so much for the Suzuki Cup though. I hope they iron things out, but I think a national team shouldn't bend to accommodate the schedules of 2 people, no matter how important they are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. agreed 100 percent! whatever happened to "will be there in a heartbeat?" i guess their heart beats just once every 24 hours.

      Delete
  13. //While in preparation for the first leg of the semifinals series with Tampines Rovers, James and Phil Younghusband were recalled for duty. A few days after that they informed PFF President Mariano Araneta of their rejoining the squad but if they could fly out on October 10. They didn’t know they were to be recalled so they agreed to an engagement with Samsung which is the corporate sponsor of Chelsea. //

    This statement is highly confusing. Did they agree to an agreement with Samsung AFTER they were informed that they were going to be recalled, or not?

    ReplyDelete
  14. YH brothers' credibility is shot. After parading through media and airing their disappointments a few weeks ago, and promising to be there in a heartbeat when called up... And now this? Whatever happened to the lads?

    ReplyDelete