"What attracted me to the job was simply the chance to become a national team coach at the age of 32. I'm coaching in 72,000-seater stadiums and if we make it to the Suzuki Cup and play Thailand, the guy sitting on the other bench is Bryan Robson. The chance to do these things at my age is priceless."
To reach the Suzuki Cup and a potential date with the former Manchester United and England captain at the tournament in Vietnam in December, McMenemy must guide the Philippines past Laos, Cambodia and Timor Leste in a round robin qualification tournament starting on October 22. At his disposal are a mix of Filipino locals and half-Filipino players - drafted in from as far afield as England and Iceland.
The undoubted star of the team is 23-year-old Chelsea academy graduate Phil Younghusband, who was released by the Blues in the summer after 14 years at the club.
Phil Younghusband
"Some of the lads are on a different level to the others, which I guess it to be expected - especially in the case of Phil and his brother James who were given a superb grounding at Chelsea."
"There are other good players around Phil, too. We have a midfielder called Jason de Jong who plays in the Dutch second division for BV Veendam - he's no relation to Nigel, but plays in the same type of way, a midfield terrier. There's also a 19-year-old German lad, Manny Ott, who plays in the German second division for FC Ingolstadt 04 II - it's a team of locals and a sprinkling of half-Filipinos."
"We have just got a lad from Iceland involved, Ray Jonsson, who has been playing in the Premier League there for ten years. He is a very good player and was planning on coming out here on holiday, but got speaking to someone who said 'why don't you try out for the national team', so he got in touch and we've had him join up with us in time for the tournament." LINK
"There are other good players around Phil, too. We have a midfielder called Jason de Jong who plays in the Dutch second division for BV Veendam - he's no relation to Nigel, but plays in the same type of way, a midfield terrier. There's also a 19-year-old German lad, Manny Ott, who plays in the German second division for FC Ingolstadt 04 II - it's a team of locals and a sprinkling of half-Filipinos."
"We have just got a lad from Iceland involved, Ray Jonsson, who has been playing in the Premier League there for ten years. He is a very good player and was planning on coming out here on holiday, but got speaking to someone who said 'why don't you try out for the national team', so he got in touch and we've had him join up with us in time for the tournament." LINK
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