LONDON, England - Filipino-British footballer Philip Younghusband has failed to get a contract with Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy dashing the hopes and dreams of thousands of Filipino soccer fans all over the world.

The Galaxy media department confirmed exclusively to this writer yesterday that the 19-year-old England born striker has failed to impress Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop and ended his training with Galaxy without a contract.

Philip reportedly is now back in the Philippines with his brother James doing media promotional stunts for their sponsors Adidas and Hugo Boss. The brothers appeared in an exclusive interview with top Philippine Star Daily entertainment columnist Ricky F. Lo.

The interview does not deserve a quote in this website as they talked nothing about soccer.

Anyway, from the start when I heard rumours that Galaxy were signing up Philip I was already in doubt. So I asked the Galaxy media department about the story. They were quick to respond and denied that Philip has signed up with them. Although they confirmed that Philip was practising with them.

Then they dropped a bomb yesterday. `Philip Younghusband is not currently training with Galaxy and has not been offered a contract', signed Galaxy spokesman Justin Pearson. It was a short answer but it was as sharp was a double edged sword.

As I have said earlier, Philip and his brother James are now in the Philippines earning endorsements from their sponsors for themselves and their `agents' PR Asia.

The story was after all just a stunt by PR Asia just to raise the profile of their clients. I have been working with the media for too long that I know what a PR stunt is. That is why I always confirm my stories before I report them. My only hope is that Philip and James `endorsement' careers will not suffer from this failed PR fiasco.

Something is wrong here. PR Asia is using these lovely brothers to get sponsors and endorsements. Of course Philip and James get paid but how much do PR Asia get as percentage. It is not a crime to practice this but my point is that PR Asia is selling the brothers in a wrong way. They should prove themselves on the pitch before they are peddled like cheap perfumes to sponsors.

The sponsors are also crazy, just because the brothers are handsome and have faces that could launch their products they just throw away their bucks without any question. They do not ask what do they do in the first place. Listen then, they are soccer players. They are good with the ball on their feet but they have not proven themselves yet.

They have not won a single trophy yet and they are even having difficulty finding a decent club to play for.

I wrote about the Younghusband brothers in one of my previous columns and I really admire their sacrifices just to play for the Philippines. They have helped raise the level of Philippine football in general and the Philippine national team in particular. However, the big question is that, was playing for the Philippines helped their football careers?

I don't think so. Since they played for the Philippines, Philip and James have lost their slots with the Chelsea FC. Now Philip does not even have a club to play for in England after his unfortunate adventure in LA. James on the other hand was reported to have signed with the lowly AFC Wimbledon.

My advice to Philip and James, if you really would like to become successful professional footballers, stay focus and train harder. Stay in England and find a club where you can play full time football. You are still very young. When you mature and play better football, scouts from big clubs will run after you.

I do not want to be branded as un patriotic, but if you want to be models and endorsers go back to the Philippines and play for the national team.

NATIONAL TEAM

As of the moment playing for the national team is really a big sacrifice for Filipino foreign footballers. I am not discouraging our young footballers abroad to play for our mother land. I am just stating to you the facts. What will you get really if you sacrifice for your country as of this moment. Nothing, Except honor. There are no monetary rewards. You just get peanuts.

That is why our foreign born Filipinos who play for our country deserve more than medals. They should get a statue bigger than Bobby Moore's statue in Wembley. And it should be put up in front of our national football stadium. Tough, the national stadium is still a dream.

Ironically, our national basketball team get all the money from their corporate sponsor San Miguel Corp. The country's biggest conglomerate are the biggest sponsor of not only the national team but of basketball. They have three teams in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and a team in the Philippine Basketball League.

The RP national basketball team which are made up of top PBA players are currently preparing for the Asian qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics. San Miguel Corp. are paying all the salaries of the players, coaches and staff of the team. The Nationals are made up of pampered millionaires whose basic monthly salaries individually can already finance a football club.

If only San Miguel Corp. can just chip in a fraction of what they are giving to basketball to football, then we can have a better team where we can attract more talented Filipino foreign footballers. GOD BLESS