CEBU, Philippines - For the love of country, Filipino-British booter Chad Gould dropped out of the All-England Beach Soccer Tour to return to the Philippine Azkals, the country’s senior elite football squad.
Gould was supposed to fly to Mauritius on May 10 for the All-England Beach Soccer Tour when the call of duty for the PHL team came along.
Gould's agent Hinko Kostanjevec said returning to PHL's fold is a great personal sacrifice for Gould as he gave up everything in London to spend the next three months in his native land.
“He has done it for his love to play for the Philippines,” Kostanjevec said in a press statement.
Gould also expressed how excited he was when he was invited by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) to return to the Azkals.
“When I got the invitation to join the Azkals in preparation for the World qualifiers, I was extremely excited,” said Gould while admitting at the same time that he also felt a bit sad for missing out the All-England Beach Soccer Tour.
Gould, who’s mom Baby Alesna-Gould is a native of Boljoon, Cebu, first played for the PHL squad in 2004, a time when the Azkals were hardly noticed until the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Bacolod the following year.
Two years ago, Gould was intrumental for the Azkals' 1-0 win over Bhutan during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup.
Gould missed last year’s battle with the Azkals to explore other fields until he got part of a beach soccer team in England.
But a call of duty for the PHL team prompted Gould to go back in the country where he is expected to add strength to the Azkals in their quest for victory in the World Cup qualifiers against Sri Lanka this July.
“It has been my boyhood dream to play for the Philippines at international level culminating in the pinnacle - the World Cup. Since joining the Azkals back in 2004 and now playing for the opportunity to compete in the World Cup qualifiers is one step closer to that dream becoming a reality,” Gould said.
Aside from rejoining the Azkals, the 28-year-old Gould is also expected to continue the grassroots development project he started out a few years back in the municipality of Boljoon. – THE FREEMAN