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The England-born athlete sees himself ten years from now, “competing at a high level of football, and hopefully making it to the World Cup for the Philippines,” he says, “I am very ambitious.” Come win or defeat, James has kept it all in perspective. “I want to be remembered for my competitive skills,” he observed, “rather than being sort of the hunk of the month.”

Following is an exclusive interview done during James’ recent trip to Manila where he was launched as the new image model of Italian accessories label, Armando Caruso:

Were you brought up the Pinoy way?

I was born and raised in England. And I’ve been staying there for most of my life really so I was brought up the English way. I had a good childhood. I was a bit fortunate to have parents who both have decent jobs and can support the family. I guess I was lucky that way.

But did you ever get teased about your surname? A name like that doesn’t easily escape the mischief-minded.

Yes we have actually, my brother and I, in school we were called “Old wife,” which is the opposite of our surname. And we often get asked, “What kind of a name is Younghusband?” But I’m proud of it. I think it’s unique. Not a lot of people have that kind of name.

True! You were scouted at the age of nine, how did you get into England football club Chelsea’s reserve list from there?

I started by playing for my school team. We were quite good so we were asked to represent the school in the county football league. We went there and there were a lot of scouts, for about 10 to 11 clubs. While I was there, I was asked to attend trials to see how good I was. I ultimately chose Chelsea because it was the closest to both my home and school.

But why football? If you got into basketball, you might be a blue-chip rookie by now.

I know. In England, football is the number one sport. We are all very passionate about it. My dad loved the sport and he wanted my brother and I to get into it so that’s why we choose football.

Fine. Now that you’ve gotten the chance to play with our local football greats, how would you rank us as players? Against, let’s say, the English?

In terms of players’ skills there’s not much difference actually. I think having the experience playing in the top level and learning tactically at the highest form of the sport maybe the only thing that English players have an edge over Filipinos. But if you talk about the passion of the players, really wanting to do their best, it’s pretty equal. Technically we are quite good. I even think we can actually win at the lower leagues. They’re more physical, true, but I’ve always reckoned that a team that passes the ball and keeps the game simple can easily win against a team that likes to pass the ball in the air.