Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 4) — As he begins his life away from playing football, former Philippine Azkals star James Younghusband has revealed he intends to explore the possibility of coaching the next generation of Filipino booters.
In an interview with CNN Philippines’ Rico Hizon on Friday, the 33-year old Filipino-English football sensation shared that he and his brother Phil dream of being a coach once they hang up their jerseys.
Phil was the first to announce his retirement last November, while James followed suit last June 25.
READ: Azkals’ James Younghusband announces retirement from football
“When I was a young kid, me and my brother, we wanted to be football players but we’ve also had dreams of becoming coaches that we would even ask our dad if we can invest in an artificial facility in our back garden,” said Younghusband.
Younghusband hopes he will be given the opportunity to study the rudiments of coaching in the United States or in the United Kingdom.
“My plan is to go back to the UK and maybe go to the US as well to just look at the cultures of football there and then come back to the Philippines to use that knowledge that I’ve gathered from those countries,” the former Ceres-Negros FC star said.
The former Azkals midfielder mentioned he would prefer coaching a youth team first to share the learnings and skills he imparted during his playing years.
If given the chance, Younghusband added he likes to lead the Azkals youth squad in the future.
“The way to go up is starting with the youth and work your way up. So my plans are to hopefully coach an Azkals youth team as well and get used to the philosophy of how we wanna play in the future and be part of the success that we all have in the future with Philippine football,” Younghusband emphasized.
The 6’1” right midfielder and striker also played with the Meralco Sparks and Davao Aguilas in the local professional football league.
Younghusband played in 101 matches for the Philippine Azkals and scored 12 goals. He was an integral part of the renaissance of Philippine football, which included the breakthrough performance in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup in Vietnam and the historic AFC Asian Cup berth in 2019.
