Belgium’s Young Red Lions will look to continue their excellent record on the men’s EuroHockey U21 stage when they take to the field on opening day against Germany.
Half of the panel will make their Under-21 debuts while only two of the side – Dragons’ Thomas Crols and Uccle’s Thomas Joye – played on home turf in 2022 in Ghent when they won bronze.
Diego Hainaut, Hugo Labouchere, Nicolas Bogaerts, captain Jack Vloberghs and Lucas Balthazar joined them for the subsequent Junior World Cup in 2023 where they ended in ninth place.
That followed a tough draw in the competition, conceding two late goals against the Netherlands to lose 5-3 and then drawing with Pakistan to bow out in the group stages, finishing ninth overall in the end.
This season, Nathan Rogge and Mathis Lauwers both helped Gantoise win the Belgian championship title for the second year in succession.
Striker Samuel Malherbe will move this summer from Royal Racing Club de Bruxelles to Waterloo Ducks having played a strong role in the former’s run to EHL bronze in 2023.
Crols will captain the side while he has also been making inroads into the senior international setup with four appearances in this year’s FIH Pro League.
The coaching ticket is a well-stacked one. Jeroen Baart leads the staff – he will move from Oranje-Rood to Dragons for next season – and he will be supported by Belgian indoor national coach and Racing T1. For good measure, Thomas Briels is on the staff as a technical consultant.
The young Lions have been a strong presence on this stage for the past 18 years, only missing out on the top four on one occasion. The highlight was their gold medal in 2012 in Den Bosch while they picked up silver in both 2010 and 2017. Two years ago, they were third.
Best performance: Winners (2014)
