Phil, James Dropped From Azkals

The Philippine Azkals will try to win the Philippine Football Peace Cup which starts tomorrow at the Rizal Memorial Stadium without charismatic brothers Phil and James Younghusband.

Both brothers, arguably two of the team's most popular players, have mysteriously been left out for the week-long tournament after the Azkals released their official lineup yesterday.

Their absence, despite the event being a friendly, will certainly play a key role in the team's preparation and cohesion for the AFF Suzuki Cup group stage slated November in Bangkok, Thailand.

The move will be the latest of a series of absence by the brothers this year. They recently missed the friendly match against Laos in Vientiane (the Azkals lost 2-0) to commemorate the one-year death anniversary of their mother.

They were also absent when the Filipino booters played friendlies in the Middle East, Malaysia and Chicago this year, citing various commitments.

Curiously, both players were also benched in the first half of the Azkals' 2-2 draw against Indonesia in June.

"Having greatly benefited from Suzuki Cup 2010, we expect our players to work harder than ever this year. Unfortunately, not everyone in the team could assure us of this; a few have already signified their unavailability for some crucial activities leading up to the tournament," the Azkals also said.

Still, Weiss has lightning-quick left winger Chieffy Caligdong, Denis Wolf and Patrick Reichelt to lean on.