Men’s EuroHockey U21 Championship preview – Netherlands men

Appearances: 21

Best performances: 1st (1976, 1978, 1992, 1996, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2022)

National coach Rick Mathijssen has named nine players who also featured at the Junior World Cup last year as they go in pursuit of an 11th EuroHockey U21 Championship men’s title.

The captain is Den Bosch man Joppe Wolbert who recently made his debut for the senior Dutch national team in Pro League games against Germany and India.

In addition to Wolbert, Thies Bakker, Teun Hogenhout, Tim Knapper (pictured), Jan van ‘t Land, Olivier Paalman, Pepijn van der Valk, and Peppe Veen were also part of the World Championship squad that finished sixth in India.

Lucas Corstens came on as a reserve for the last two matches. Pepijn Jones was also a reserve at the time but did not see any action.

** 24 EuroHockey U21 Championship matches from Pitch 1 in Valencia will be broadcast live on www.eurohockeytv.org with an €8.99 event pass (Click the graphic for more information)

For Wolbert, Van ‘t Land, Knapper, and Bakker, it will be their second Under-21 Euros; they were also part of the squad in 2024, when the Netherlands lost 3-1 to Spain in the final.

Paalman was the keeper for the AH&BC Amsterdam indoor side who became the first Dutch club to win EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup gold; he will move to Klein Zwitserland this season.

The remainder of the panel will be earning their first formal caps at Under-21 international level but a number have already made their mark on the European stage.

Goalkeeper Diederick van den Hoek put in a star turn for Kampong during the EHL FINAL8 this year when he saved three times in their shoot-out win over Crefelder HTC.

Timme van der Heijden scored 12 times for HC Rotterdam in their run to Dutch Hoofdklasse glory, including one of the goals of the season in April in the club competition, assisted by his older brother and senior international Pepijn.

They start the tournament in Valencia on July 26 with a match against Austria. Two days later, host nation Spain is the opponent, after which the team concludes the group stage against England a day later.

#	Name	Caps	Goals	Goals
1	Olivier Paalman (GK)	3	0	AH&BC Amsterdam
2	Diederik van den Hoek (GK)	0	0	SV Kampong
6	Lucas Corstens	2	0	AH&BC Amsterdam
7	Peppe Veen	6	1	Schaerweijde
8	Thies Bakker	11	3	SV Kampong
9	Pepijn van der Valk	6	1	Pinoké
10	Tim Knapper	11	0	Pinoké
11	Iwan Roukema	0	0	Pinoké
12	Sander van de Putte	0	0	SV Kampong
13	Joppe Wolbert (C)	16	6	Den Bosch
14	Jan van ‘t Land	17	4	Bloemendaal
15	Pepijn Jones	0	0	Klein Zwitserland
16	Teun Hogenhout	6	0	Bloemendaal
17	Tom Provily	0	0	HDM
19	Teun van Aalderen	0	0	Schaerweijde
21	Thije Bakker	0	0	Nijmegen
22	Timme van der Heijden	0	0	Rotterdam
24	Balder Reyenga	0	0	Laren
	Fleur Reinigert-van de Kieft	Team Manager
	Rick Mathijssen	Head Coach
	Jeroen Groenheijde	Assistant Coach
	Hidde Leenstra	Physiotherapist
	Tim Overbeek	Physiotherapist
	Bart Post	Video Technician