In October last year, seven members of Belgium’s “Golden Generation” ended their successful international careers. Among them, only Tanguy Cosyns failed to win a European Championship, a World Cup or an Olympic gold medal.
Cosyns missed the 2017 European Championship (Netherlands) and 2018 World Cup (Bhubaneswar) triumphs due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament and was ruled out of Belgium’s medal campaign. gold at the Tokyo Olympics. A 2019 video on his Instagram shows him running miles on a treadmill, preparing for the conditions in the Japanese capital.
He came agonizingly close at the 2023 World Cup, where Belgium lost the final on penalties. Cosyns’ missed penalty became the decisive moment of the shootout. Once again he was overlooked for the Paris Olympics, ending his long-held dream of representing the Red Lions at the Summer Games.
Belgium’s Cosyns Tanguy celebrates after scoring the goal during the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 final match between Germany and Belgium at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Friday, January 29, 2023. | Photo credit: KR DEEPAK / The Hindu
Belgium’s Cosyns Tanguy celebrates after scoring the goal during the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 final match between Germany and Belgium at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Friday, January 29, 2023. | Photo credit: KR DEEPAK / The Hindu
“The fact that I was not selected for the Paris Olympics led to my retirement,” says Cosyns, who was capped 180 times and scored 80 goals for Belgium in a decade.
“I couldn’t push myself again for the national team because it’s really difficult. I want to enjoy my sport for many more years. With the national team it was no longer possible because of the load we carry as international players,” he explains to Sports stars.
Now 33, Cosyns is looking for new meaning in his hockey career. Having moved from attacker to defender, he aims to extend his club career with Racing Club of the Belgian Hockey League. He is also exploring coaching and new experiences, like playing in the Hockey India League (HIL).
On Tuesday night, Cosyns, aka ‘el Coze’, proved his prowess when his third-quarter breakout opened the scoring for his franchise, UP Rudras, putting them at the top of the points table.
Cosyns remains a powerful drag-shimmer, a skill he has consistently demonstrated for Racing. As well as scoring as a striker, he converted penalty corners to reach 80 goals for Belgium. One wonders how much more he could have scored if teammates Tom Boon and Alexander Hendrickx hadn’t shared the load.
“It’s always hard work, like being a second goalkeeper. But we have to push the standards to improve the level of sparkle. In a way, I think I can say that Alexander Hendrickx got really, really good at drag-flicking because I kept pushing myself, which forced him to push harder every day,” Cosyns reflects.
A third-generation hockey player from a family deeply rooted in the sport, Cosyns is originally from Brussels. His parents and grandparents played at an amateur level. “So it was meant for me to become a hockey player – not necessarily at the highest level – but I had that mentality from a very young age and I was really hooked on the sport. But in the end, it came from nothing. I took my chance and I think you always need a bit of luck to play at the highest level,” he says.
Setbacks are nothing new for Cosyns, but he has consistently bounced back. After tearing his ACL in 2017, he launched a clothing brand. During the 2020 pandemic, when the world was at a standstill, he used his time to focus on making hockey sticks. “I learned how to run a website and that sort of thing. My brand of hockey was a project supported by my parents and now, two to four years later, it is doing well. I’m really happy,” he said.
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His current trip to India also has a business angle. “We focus on hockey sticks, and that’s why I’m here too. I had productive meetings with Indian manufacturers who make excellent sticks. This is an opportunity for me to share my knowledge and potentially establish a commercial link between here and Europe,” says Cosyns, optimistically.
With a calm and pragmatic outlook on life, Cosyns does not dwell on missed medals.
“It’s hard because you want to be a part of it. But with my experience, I know that I gave everything. I have no regrets. The coach must make decisions; sometimes it’s just a matter of preference.
“In sport, it’s incredibly difficult to win everything. I learned to appreciate the journey more than the results. If you only focus on results, it’s difficult to truly enjoy your sport. With the perspective I have now, I am proud of what our generation has accomplished and my personal contributions to my team and myself,” he concludes with a smile.
