How Midfield Mainstay Felix Denayer Thrived Wearing the National Colours
A midfield mainstay of the Belgium men’s hockey team, Felix Denayer epitomises ‘poise and calmness’ on the hockey turf – slick passing, resilient defending, robust game awareness are attributes the hockey world has been witness to in his illustrious international career spanning 16 years. No wonder, he has carved out a massive reputation on the international hockey stage.
The 34-year-old Belgium captain and midfielder would be sorely missed by the hockey world as he has called time on his international career after Belgium’s rather disappointing quarterfinal exit at the 2024 Paris Olympics, following a surprising defeat to Spain – interestingly, Denayer attained a personal milestone at the Paris Olympics making his 400th international appearance during the league tie against India, where they orchestrated a fine 2-1 come-from-behind victory. The lack of a podium finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics is perhaps a low point of his magnificent international career.
The five-time Olympian, who has played a large chunk of his club hockey for KHC Dragons, made his senior international debut during the 2009 Five Test Series against India at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium at Chennai – he was part of the 2008 Beijing Olympics team, where they finished 9th – it was their first Olympic appearance for the Red Lions in 32 years (they had last featured at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where they had also finished 9th).
Denayer has impressive accomplishments with the Red Lions, including winning the 2018 World Cup and the 2021 Tokyo Olympics while captaining the national side – he had also led Belgium to its first-ever EuroHockey Champions crown in 2019 in their own backyard in Brussels. Among the other career highs, he was part of the 2016 Rio Olympics silver-winning team under the captaincy of John-John Dohmen – he had also represented the national side at the 2012 London Olympics, where they had finished 9th.
The tall midfielder has had disappointments on the playing turf as well – he was part of the Belgium team that did not qualify for the 2010 New Delhi World Cup after the Red Lions lost to Argentina 3-4 in the final at Quilmes – that loss would be rankled him as well as the entire team as Belgium were sitting pretty with a 3-1 lead at one stage before Argentina struck three late goals to pour cold water on their World Cup playing aspirations.
Players would come and go – it is a natural process but Felix Denayer can always fall back on many fond memories he created playing for the Red Lions – his gargantuan contributions to Belgium and world hockey would be etched in hockey fans’ minds.
International Career File
| International Appearances: | 402 |
| Goals | 29 |
| Olympics Appearances | 5 (2008, 2012, 2016, 2021, 2024) |
| Year of Senior International Debut | 2008 |
| Last International Match | vs Spain in the quarterfinal of the 2024 Paris Olympics |
