Know your Azkals: 'Bad boy' De Jong
“To be honest, I think we are overrated," Fil-Dutch Jason De Jong says smugly. While the entire Philippine archipelago was celebrating the Azkals’ win against Mongolia last week, Jason now says he fully expected it. “Mongolia has a lower standing. I’m happy we won, but it’s really nothing. We should celebrate if we beat countries ranked higher than us," he adds. This assertive attitude coupled with intimidating looks has earned Jason the rep of "Bad Boy" among the Azkals. And it’s not just a reputation — he lives up to it when he does the dirt on defense. “I am very physical. I play defense, and I like to tackle and go hard," he says. It’s pretty hard to imagine six-year-old Jason playing that intensely when he started out with a local football club in the Netherlands. Since then, he’s played in different teams such as Belgium Turnhout and NAC Breda, a premier league club in Holland. Thank God for the Internet, the Philippine Football Federation discovered his Filipino lineage and put him in the Azkals team. Like his teammates, the peak of his international career was beating Vietnam 2-0 in their hometown. He was in such high spirits that he even kissed Phil Younghusband. “You saw that?!" he asks. Apparently, he hasn’t seen the animated photos (GIFs) of him kissing Phil posted all over the Internet. “Yeah, I asked Phil for a kiss," he laughs. “I was so happy. After his goal, I knew we’d win. I knew we’d qualify for the semis." Mind you, Jason has been well-behaved during his entire stint as an Azkal. He’s never been handed a red card. He’s only been suspended once, and that was due to two yellow cards in Laos. But he has gotten into fights with other players because of how he plays. “As I said, I like playing physical, and I sometimes get into fights if the other player can’t take it. But if you can’t handle a tackle, then I say you’re in the wrong sport," he says as a matter of fact. Yup. There goes the bluntness again. Inked Football is Jason’s first love; his second would probably be tattoos. He has tattoos on his back and on both arms. His left arm has images of everything important to him — religious symbols, the Philippine map, and his younger brother’s name. On his right forearm, there’s a text that reads “Habang Buhay Sama Tayo."