The Philippines under-19 national team is set to return to action this July as they compete in the 19th edition of the AFF U19 Youth Championship, which will be held in Surabaya, Indonesia.
Following the appointment of Tom Saintfiet as head coach of the senior men’s national team, there were rumors that German coach Hans Michael Weiß was demoted and would now be in charge of the Philippines U19 squad. The federation has not yet verified whether these rumors are true. What is true, though, is the return of former senior men’s national team head coach Josep “Coco” Ferré, who has been appointed as the new Technical Director of the Philippine Football Federation and will be working alongside Vincent Santos.
The two were spotted in Cebu weeks ago, overseeing the Visayas leg trials of the Philippines U16 national team, which will be competing in the AFF U16 Youth Championship in June, along with the rumored new head coach of the Philippines U16, Japanese tactician Yuki Matsuda. It was also rumored that Ferré and Santos would be handling the tryouts for the Philippines U19 team.
In the previous edition of the tournament, which was two years ago, the Philippines U19 team was placed in a group dubbed the “Group of Death” after being drawn together with Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Brunei. The Philippines U19 team finished the tournament with just three points after succumbing to four straight defeats and securing a consolation win against Brunei on their final match day, scoring eight and conceding thirteen goals in five games.
Despite having talented players in the squad like Sandro Reyes, Antoine Ortega, Jaime Rosquillo, Kamil Amirul, and Dov Cariño, along with others, qualifying for the knockout stages was deemed impossible for the Christopher Pedimonte-led team. Beyond the preparations, the lack of tall natural center backs proved to be one of the key factors in the U19’s unimpressive performance. Of the twenty-four players called up, three were actually center backs, namely Jaime Rosquillo, Jerome Ang, and Haren De Gracia. However, two of the three center backs called up were undersized. When I say undersized, their heights were below the considered “minimum” of 6’0″ (1.83m). Pedimonte also did not fully trust Ang and De Gracia at that time, as he often paired Rosquillo with either Antoine Ortega or Dale Reas-Do, who both played as midfielders and were also undersized. The lack of center backs and cohesion were pivotal in that tournament; the Philippines U19 conceded four penalties in their four defeats, with two coming from Antoine Ortega and the other two being shared by Jaime Rosquillo and fullback Cian Galsim, one each. Two goals were conceded via set pieces, and the others were mainly defensive errors.
It is no secret that the Philippine men’s national team has been recruiting overseas-based players for more than a decade to fill the void in the center-back role. For the last five years, only four center backs who are considered “homegrown” have been capped for the senior team: Amani Aguinaldo, Marco Casambre, Audie Menzi, and Mar Diano, and three of them have less than ten caps.
With the AFF U19 Youth Championship just around the corner, adding overseas-based players to address one of the problem areas would not hurt. Filipinos are naturally not that tall; calling up diaspora players to fill a position that requires height won’t do any damage. I don’t think it would stifle the development of homegrown center backs with good height. Instead of focusing on where the player is from, let’s view this as healthy competition, an opportunity for our players to push themselves to do better. All of our players are Filipinos, after all. The national team’s main responsibility is to call up the most qualified and eligible players possible, not to create them.
One of the eligible center-back prospects I’ve been looking at is Eddie Hudson III of Duquesne University. He is the younger brother of Filipinas prospect Zoë Hudson, who also plays as a center-back for Box Hill United SC in Australia.
Hudson is a Michigan native born to an African-American father and a Filipino-American mother. He traces his Filipino roots to Pangasinan, where his grandparents are from. His favorite Filipino food is a combination of lumpia and pancit. He has never been to the Philippines before, but he’s hoping to visit the country soon. A Philippine passport holder, calling him up for the Philippines U19 team won’t be a problem.
Player profile
Name: Edward Hudson III
Age: 18 (as of writing, 2005-born)
Birthplace: Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA
Position: Center Back (#4 / #5)
Height: 6’3 (1.91m)
Youth club/academy experience: Vardar SC (MLS NEXT), Nationals Soccer Union, Michigan Wolves SC (MLS NEXT)
Semi-pro club experience: Flint City Bucks (USL League Two)
Philippine passport holder: Yes
Transfermarkt value: n/a
Playing experience
Hudson started playing the sport at the age of seven. He played for various local soccer clubs in Michigan, like the Nationals Soccer Union, Vardar SC, and Michigan Wolves, which compete in the MLS Next, a youth soccer league organized by Major League Soccer. His most notable experience in his youth years was qualifying for the MLS Next playoffs three times and finishing as runners-up in the MSYSA State Cup in 2021.
Growing up, Hudson knew that he would be playing D1 soccer one day. When he was a junior in high school, he had already started his recruitment process, which eventually led him to Duquesne University. Deciding to commit to Duquesne wasn’t really hard for him since it was also his dad’s (Eddie Hudson II) alma mater when he took up law school. Although Hudson decided to take the redshirt in his freshman year, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, redshirts are student-athletes who decided to withdraw their eligibility from a college sporting event for a year, extending their eligibility for another year.
He may not have played games in the fall season, but he played a few games in the spring season, which is considered the preseason tournament of the NCAA. While also on a redshirt, Hudson played mostly for the Flint City Bucks, a semi-pro soccer club that competes in the USL League Two, the de facto fourth-tier league in the US. He played two league games with the club, including four games in the state cup.
Style of play
During the early days of his youth career, Hudson actually started out playing as a striker. As a kid, he loved the flashiness and glory of scoring goals for the team, but when he turned thirteen, he grew out of the idea and started playing as a center back.
Growing up, he looked up to Sergio Ramos as his role model. In response to the question of whether he could compare his game to that of a professional player, his answer was William Saliba. Antonio Rüdiger was also mentioned.
Similar to the two center backs mentioned, Hudson is more of a ball-playing defender. Not only is he capable of stopping the opposition from scoring, he also helps the team in attack by creating plays from the back. He’s a technical player who’s good at handling the ball. He’s also composed and capable of handling pressure from the opposition. A left-footed player, he is often seen on the left side of the defense, although he’s comfortable playing on both sides. Upon viewing a few of his clips, I also observed something about his game: his vision. The timing of his passes to his teammates’ runs was excellent. Standing at 6’3″ (1.91m), his height is a huge asset in set pieces. At only 18 years old, he still has a lot of room to improve. When asked about the things he’s working to improve, he answered, “my recovery runs,” to which I would agree, seeing that he often carries the ball high up the pitch and is frequently deployed in set pieces. He aims to reach a certain top speed, covering a certain distance.
For Eddie, it doesn’t matter where he comes from; he is well aware of the cultural and environmental adjustments he must make. Right now, getting a chance to represent our country on the international stage is the priority, and it would be a huge honor for him. Donning that Philippines jersey would be a special moment not only for his grandparents but for his relatives back in Pangasinan as well.
A maritime graduate and a long-time football fan. Current Data Administrator of Philippines Football in Transfermarkt. An avid FC Barcelona and Loyola FC fan.
