Philippine men’s national football team striker Bjorn Kristensen humbly shrugged off his comparison to Phil Younghusband after scoring two goals in their 2-2 draw with Tajikistan in the third round of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers late Tuesday at the New Clark City Stadium in Capas, Tarlac.
The 23-year-old Kristensen said he still has a lot to prove before being compared to Younghusband, who is regarded as a revered figure in Philippine football after nailing a goal that sealed the country’s spot in the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The Filipino-Norwegian striker from KFUM Oslo scored in both the 28th and 79th minutes of the match as the Nationals remained on top of Group A with a 1-1-0 win-draw-loss record.
“I don’t think I’m a hero yet. I’m still young, there are a lot of good players here in the national team... Kike (Linares), the Younghusbands also,” Kristensen said.
“I don’t think I’m a hero now — maybe we’ll see 10, 15 years.”
Kristensen has already scored eight goals in 13 of his appearances for the Philippines while emerging as the top scorer of the qualifiers with three goals.
Younghusband, on the other hand, is the Philippines’ all-time leading scorer with 52 goals in 108 games in international competitions.
Kristensen swears they could have taken the victory over Tajikistan and vows to get more wins in their remaining matches of the qualifiers to clinch one of the six slots in the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
The Philippines will next face Timor Leste on 9 October and Kristensen hopes to put on a scoring clinic for the fans.
“No, I feel we should win this game. I don’t think we did show up in the first half and we could. We did our best to bounce back and luckily, we got the point,” Kristensen said.
“It means a lot — not only for me but the whole team. So many of them have traveled far away from Manila and all over the country.”
“So, I want to thank them for coming, and sorry for not winning this game.” Ivan Suing