Phil Younghusband cleared for Azkals home leg vs Sri Lanka

Cedelf P. Tupas

MANILA—The “miracle” Philippine striker Phil Younghusband had hoped for happened yesterday.

The country’s top international scorer the past five years has made himself available for the home leg of the Azkals’ first-round World Cup qualifying duel against Sri Lanka at the Rizal Memorial Stadium this Sunday.
His presence thrown into doubt after limping off in the 40th minute in the 1-1 first leg draw in Colombo, Younghusband was cleared by Dr. Randolf Molo, a sports medicine specialist at St. Luke’s, yesterday after an MRI revealed the hamstring injury was not as serious as the striker had earlier feared.
The Sri Lankans scored three minutes after Younghusband’s departure, but his replacement, Filipino-American striker Nate Burkey, headed home the equalizer in the 50th

Younghusband in tip-top shape

by Peter Atencio

STRIKER Phil Younghusband said Tuesday that his injury has fully healed and he’ll be at his best when he joins the Philippine Azkals when the team leaves for Germany, its final stop before it battles the Sri Lankans.

“My legs are okay now. I have no more injuries which will keep me away from the team. I will be ready for the game against Sri Lanka,” said Younghusband, who took time out from his the team’s morning scrimmages to be at the launch of RFM’s new energy drink, VitWater Power, which he endorses.
The 26-year-old Fil-British later joined his teammates at the Rizal Memorial Track Football Stadium pitch in Vito Cruz, Manila.
Younghusband has rejoined the team for almost a month now after being sidelined by a hamstring injury he suffered last March when the Philippine Azkals lost to the Mongolian Blue Wolves, 1-2, in the second game of a two-game, home-and-away qualifying matches in the 2012 Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup.
His injury prevented him from joining the team in the Group stages of the 2012 Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup in Myanmar.
Younghusband hopes to keep his spot in the team when coach Hans Michael Weiss announces the composition of the national squad seeing action against Sri Lanka in their home-and-away World Cup qualifying matches on June 29 and July 3. Source

Phil expects to be ready for Sri Lanka

by Olmin Leyba

MANILA, Philippines - Phil Younghusband, the popular Azkals striker who’s recovering from injury and engaged in a number of off-field activities, promised to be “match-ready” in time for the Philippines’ Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers duel with Sri Lanka in June.
“I’m slowly getting back into it,” the Fil-British striker said during the Azkals’ training session at the Rizal Memorial pitch.

Younghusband missed the group stages of the Asian Challenge Cup qualifiers last March after