It turns out that the English-Filipino brothers were contacted by the Philippine Football Federation after an anonymous person discovered their Filipino lineage after, of all things, playing a PlayStation game. “It’s sort of like an urban legend now,” says James of the mystery person. “We don’t know anything about the guy.”
Urban legend or not, the discovery has been nothing short of a godsend for Philippine football. The Younghusbands have spearheaded a Philippine team that has seen a remarkable improvement in their play since the brothers joined them in the pitch. In the Asean Football Championship Qualifiers in November 2006, Phil scored six goals in only four appearances. James, meanwhile, showed his form during the 2005 Southeast Asian Games when he scored three times at the tournament.