It's on like Jason de Jong
MANILA, Philippines - As complete non-fans of football, it’s difficult to pretend to actually know about football with half-Dutch (and half-naked) Azkals defensive midfielder Jason de Jong around, but we’ll try. His earliest years playing the sport is the safest place to start. “My dad taught me how to play football, but in Holland everyone loves to play football. I started playing football at five years old.” Born in Breda, Netherlands, Jason is a product of the NAC Breda youth system, a Dutch professional football club where he was eventually released upon graduating from the U-19 youth team. Currently, he also plays for the second division of FC Dordrecht in Holland.
Though he would love to play striker (“I love to score goals, but I don’t score that often!”), he originally played winger, and was later converted into a defensive midfielder. This led to heavy comparisons between him and his namesake, defensive midfielder for Premiere League club Manchester City and the Netherlands national team, Nigel de Jong. Though they are unrelated, Jason welcomes the comparisons, saying, “I love the way Nigel plays!” He’s also a big fan of English Football League player Vinnie Jones, who is also widely known for his role as Big Chris in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and basically for playing angry brute characters who swear a lot in various roles on TV and film. Considering Jason is known for his temperamental nature and aggressive style of playing, not to mention his “bad boy” moniker among the Azkals, this doesn’t surprise us.
Interestingly, the Internet is responsible for bringing him to Philippine soil. “It all started with a website called pinoysoccer.com. Back then, Ernie Nierras was the one who gave me a chance and told the Philippine Football Federation about me! After that, I made my debut for the Philippines in 2008 against Timor-Leste,” he reveals. He hopes to play with the Azkals for another 10 years — “I want to have 100 caps!” — and eventually become a manager or a scout.
This month, he’ll be leading the Azkals under-23 team as they attempt the Philippines’ first ever Southeast Asian Games medal in football. Though only 21 years old, Jason is the most experienced member of the team, having played for the senior Azkals team in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, along with his other stints playing for FC Dordrecht and briefly, for Persiba Balikpapan in the Indonesia Super League. As of press time, they’re hoping to end their winless streak after absorbing a 1-2 defeat to Timor Leste last Nov. 7, and a 1-3 defeat to Vietnam before that. On Monday, they’ll be playing against Myanmar, then Brunei on Nov. 15 at the Lebak Bulus Stadium in Jakarta. “It’s the first, I’m one of the seniors and I have to help the other players,” Jason stated in a press conference. “(The) target is to get a medal, of course. Going there to see what’s going to happen is not a good idea. We should have a goal, and that goal should be at least a medal,” he stated before heading off to Indonesia.
Jason admits that despite the sudden fame of the Azkals, Philippine football has a long way to go. “I hope that the youth will have better fields and dressing rooms because that’s a joke in the Philippines at the moment,” he says. While there’s nothing we can do about the state of our fields, our photos will show you that the lack of proper dressing rooms shouldn’t be too much of an issue. After all, not everyone watching Jason is necessarily interested in football.
