Ok now that Ive got your attention, let me introduce to you, (drum roll please) Luke Woodland! As I hear the collective sighs of Filipino fan girls all over, lets find out who Luke is, shall we...
To be fair, there are no Football Manager moments ala Phil Younghusband or Dan Palami discoveries this time. Luke's justifiably proud father has actually reached out to the Philippines' premier football site, Usapangfootball.proboards.com and its rabid members for help with an introduction to the powers that be at PFF. His father has also mentioned that a previews 'unofficial' attempt was made to reach out to the PFF but did not come to fruition. But first things first . Who is Luke Woodland?
The basics: Luke Woodland is a British citizen born on 21/7/1995. His father is British and his mother is a Filipina from Daet, Camarines Norte. The family has been based in Abu Dhabi and England since Luke had been born. According to Luke's father he has represented England in the U16's and now U17. He is also progressing well in his home club, Bolton Wanderers FC where he has gained a scholarship and plays for the clubs U18's. At this time, he has just been selected for the Reserve Team Squad.
He has had 5 International Apps. His last international appearance was in the Nordic Tournament.
Some of you might be rolling your eyes right now saying, oh no not another one. But allow me to remind you, the Bolton Wanderers happen to belong to the Barclays Premier League(Yah I know they're in last place right now and probably end up relegated) but no one can deny that English soccer is a cut above most and although it's premature to compare Luke to the, Greatwich, Younghusband's, Hartmann's etc, English football has impacted Philippine football immensely, who knows what Luke can contribute?
Oh by the way he plays Central Mid and can play Center Back. At 16 years old he stands at 184cm or for you Americancentric's thats 6ft tall! So maybe 5-8 years from now we have Jacques Van Bossche and Luke Woodland at CB winning the 3rd round of the World Cup? Hey, just sayin'...
* If you are reading this and have access to Dan 'the Man' Palami or anyone else who Luke's father can talk with that has the RIGHT CREDENTIALS, please leave a message, message me at @WikingBK or log on to usapangfootball.proboards.com search for Luke Woodland and PM his father.
...rolling my eyes right now saying, oh no not another one...
ReplyDeleteMaybe he can be first be part of the U-21s for the 2012 Hassanal Bolkiah trophy this February, or eventually for the U-23s for the 2013 SEA Games!
ReplyDeleteIf he's lucky to be capped for the seniors, he'll be one of the youngest players to play for the national side since Matthew Hartmann in '06 when he was just 16 years old!
Potential talent I see here.
Philippines' premier football site, Usapangfootball.proboards.com :)
ReplyDeleteYou got that right!
I hope that he will be part of the national team of Philippines in Soccer because he has a potential.....
ReplyDeleteHe will be playing 9th-tier football in England within five years, before trying to play 'professionally' in Philippines!
ReplyDeleteWhere in the blog or comments did anyone say he would/should/could play 'professionally' in the Philippines?
ReplyDeleteNational Teams does not equal "professional team". Ooops...
bolton wanderers thier freakin goons in the field.
ReplyDeleteLuke plays defense, if he plays like a goon, I'll take that! :)
ReplyDeleteWe need all the help we can get. There are positive things that came with the use of our Fil-foreign kababayans and there are very slight negative things wherein the positive outweighs the negatives by a mile. At the end, Philippine football will improve and later on improve some more.
ReplyDeleteI don't like crab mentality of "some", it is like China and Philippines, we think we are better than China in terms of military or power but it is just wishful thinking.
These Filipinos who lived abroad had a good program in developing their skills and God given talents.
We are surely lucky we are benefiting from it. It is a privelege for me that they are playing for us, with their blood, sweat, tears and life (they are flying from Europe to Philippines so they are risking their lives.)
Go Azkals. I ALWAYS BELIEVE. AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
We should be happy and privilege that these guys are very much willing to play for us.
ReplyDeleteOur country's football team needs all the help and knowledge that we can get.
Unlike the other asian countries, their football games are very much supported by their government, their whole people and their media.
The way I see it, we just merely started from zero. We are in 0.1 not even reaching 1.
We have to accept the fact that without our half-blooded kababayans, we will not be recognized.
If we win an international footbal game whether friendly or tournament whether mahina o malakas ang kalaban we Filipinos should be proud even in the defeat of our team.
Think positive.
I always believe. AZKALS. AWooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Kevin Esswein is also from Daet Camarines Norte!!!
ReplyDeleteKevin plays in Bundesliga highest ligue in Germany.
Esswein is in the 5th tier because he will be playing for the Karlsruher SC U23 team. The senior team(Dennis Cagara) is in the 3.Liga now which is 3rd tier.
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