Dylan Alain Lucienne Escalana De Bruycker[2] (born 5 December 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for the Philippines national team.

Dylan De Bruycker
Personal information
Full name Dylan Alain Lucienne Escalana De Bruycker
Date of birth (1997-12-05) 5 December 1997 (age 26)
Place of birth Ghent, Belgium
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
2005–2009 Gent
2010–2016 Club Brugge
2016 Zulte Waregem
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Davao Aguilas 23 (5)
2019–2020 Ceres–Negros 12 (1)
2020–2021 Kaya–Iloilo 5 (0)
2021–2023 Nakhon Ratchasima 32 (0)
2023 Bhayangkara 7 (0)
International career
2013–2014 Belgium U15 4 (0)
2014 Belgium U16 4 (1)
2014–2015 Belgium U17 3 (0)
2017–2019 Philippines U22 11 (1)
2017–2019 Philippines U23 6 (0)
2017– Philippines 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 June 2023

Born in Belgium to a Belgian father and a Filipino mother, De Bruycker began his career with the youth teams of Belgian First Division A clubs and has represented Belgium at the youth levels. In 2017, he moved to the Philippines to play for the national team and has represented clubs Davao Aguilas, Ceres–Negros, and Kaya–Iloilo.

Club career edit

Youth edit

Born in Ghent, Belgium, De Bruycker began his career with the youth team of local club Gent. He later joined Club Brugge at age 13. In 2016, he played for Zulte Waregem.[3]

Davao Aguilas edit

In April 2017, it was announced that the 19-year-old De Bruycker joined Davao Aguilas of the Philippines Football League (PFL).[4] He made his PFL debut for Davao on 7 May, when he scored the club's first ever league goal in a 1–1 away draw against Ilocos United.[5] He then scored a brace in Davao's second match of the season on 14 May, a 3–2 home loss against JPV Marikina.[6] On 21 June, De Bruycker scored the equaliser in a 2–2 draw against Meralco Manila, ending Meralco's five–match winning run.[7] Davao Aguilas ended the first PFL season in 7th place out of 8 teams.[8]

In the 2018 season, De Bruycker scored the fourth goal in the 5–0 thrashing of Stallion Laguna on 16 June.[9] Davao finished third in the league and were runners-up in the Copa Paulino Alcantara.[10][11] After their 2018 season, Davao Aguilas folded and released all its players.[12][13]

Ceres–Negros edit

De Bruycker was signed by Ceres–Negros in January 2019.[14] He scored the team's second goal in a 3–0 league win over Philippine Air Force on 17 August.[15] In the Copa Paulino Alcantara, he scored the equalising goal against Philippines U22 as Ceres eventually won 2–1 on 30 October.[16] De Bruycker was part of the Ceres–Negros squad that won the domestic league and cup double in their unbeaten 2019 season.[17]

On 28 January 2020, he started against FC Tokyo in the AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs, where they were knocked out after a 2–0 loss.[18] In March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic and Asian competitions were either cancelled or postponed.[19][20] The resulting financial losses forced club chairman Leo Rey Yanson to sell Ceres–Negros in July.[21] De Bruycker was not among the players retained by the new owners.[22][23]

Kaya–Iloilo edit

In October 2020, Kaya–Iloilo announced the signing of De Bruycker.[24] With Kaya, he played in the 2021 AFC Champions League and won the 2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara.[25][26]

Nakhon Ratchasima edit

In December 2021, De Bruycker signed for Thai League 1 club Nakhon Ratchasima for the second half of the 2021–22 season as one of the three available spots for ASEAN players.[27]

International career edit

De Bruycker was born in Belgium to a Belgian father and a Filipino mother, making him eligible to play for Belgium or the Philippines. He initially chose Belgium as a U-15, U-16 and U-17 national team member, playing a total of 11 games.[3]

Philippines U-22 and U-23 edit

In July 2017, De Bruycker received a call-up for the Philippines U-23 football team to compete at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship qualification that was held in Cambodia.[28] On 19 July 2017, he earned his first cap for the Philippines U-23 team in an 8–0 defeat against Japan U-23.[29]

De Bruycker was part of the Philippines U-22 squad that competed in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games held in Malaysia.[30] Philippines finished fourth out of six in the group stage and failed to advance to the knockout rounds.[31]

In February 2019, he was part of the Philippines' squad for the AFF U-22 Youth Championship held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.[32] Philippines lost all of their three group matches in the tournament.[33] In March, he participated in the qualifications for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship.[34] Philippines failed to win a single match in the qualifiers.[33]

De Bruycker was named in the squad for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, which the Philippines hosted.[35] He scored in their last group stage match, a 6–1 thrashing of Timor-Leste. However, the team failed to advance to the semi-finals.[36]

Philippines edit

De Bruycker was called up to the Philippines senior team in August 2017, ahead of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers against Yemen.[37][38] In October 2017, he was again called up for the Philippines senior team for their away game against Yemen in Doha, Qatar.[39]

In December 2017, he took part at the 2017 CTFA International Tournament though the squad that played in the friendly tournament in Taiwan was mentored by Marlon Maro in lieu of regular head coach Thomas Dooley.[40][41] He later featured in a friendly against Fiji with a Dooley-mentored squad after he was substituted in at the start of the second half of the match, which ended in a 3–2 win.[42]

International goals edit

Philippines U22 edit

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 4 December 2019 Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Philippines   East Timor 4–0 6–1 2019 Southeast Asian Games

Honours edit

Club edit

Davao Aguilas

Ceres–Negros

Kaya–Iloilo

  • Copa Paulino Alcantara: 2021

References edit

  1. ^ "Dylan de Bruycker". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  2. ^ "AFF U-22 Group A Match Summary (PHI v. VIE)" (PDF). ASEANFootball.org. ASEAN Football Federation (AFF). 17 February 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b Wens, Nils (25 October 2019). "Van de Belgische hoop naar... Filipijns international: Dylan De Bruycker's indrukwekkende traject". voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch). Voetbalkrant. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Philippines Football League previews: Ceres, Aguilas, Global, and Ilocos United". Rappler. 4 May 2017. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Ilocos United vs. Davao Aguilas a battle of firsts". GMA News. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  6. ^ Leyba, Olmin (14 May 2017). "Marikina FC nips Davao Aguilas in Football League". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  7. ^ Averilla, Earl (21 June 2017). "Davao Aguilas claw back to draw against Meralco Manila, 2-2". FOX Sports Asia. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  8. ^ Go, Beatrice (26 April 2018). "Davao Aguilas FC finds solution for grueling home-and-away PFL games". Rappler. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Five-star Davao Aguilas rout Stallion Laguna in return to winning ways". Fox Sports Philippines. 16 June 2018. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  10. ^ "Commissioner Bernie Sumayao comments on Davao Aguilas exit, state of Philippine Premier League". ABS-CBN Sports. 17 December 2018. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  11. ^ Leyba, Olmin (29 October 2018). "Kaya FC snares Copa Paulino Alcantara". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  12. ^ Go, Beatrice (17 December 2018). "Rebranded PFL steps in 'difficult time' as Davao Aguilas FC folds". Rappler. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  13. ^ Tupas, Cedelf (15 December 2018). "Davao pullout leaves PFL with 5 teams". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 17 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  14. ^ Tupas, Cedelf (22 January 2019). "Ceres beefs up champs league roster". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  15. ^ "Ceres-Negros wins third straight vs PAF". The Daily Guardian. 19 August 2019. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  16. ^ Terrado, Jonas (31 October 2019). "Ceres-Negros nips PH U-22 team for first Copa victory". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  17. ^ Terrado, Jonas (16 November 2019). "Ceres-Negros completes rare double with Copa Paulino Alcantara triumph". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  18. ^ Tupas, Cedelf P. (28 January 2020). "Ceres' Champions League run ends at the hands of FC Tokyo". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  19. ^ "Football: AFC Cup 2020 cancelled, as Asian competition calendar shuffled". ABS-CBN News. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020. The Asian Football Confederation on Thursday announced that the AFC Cup 2020 will be cancelled, citing the coronavirus pandemic.
  20. ^ Saldajeno, Ivan Stewart (13 March 2020). "PFL postpones new season due to Covid-19". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  21. ^ "End of an Era: Ceres-Negros set for name, ownership change". Tiebreaker Times. 8 July 2020. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  22. ^ Terrado, Reuben (25 July 2020). "United City FC to retain most of Ceres-Negros FC players, staff". Sports Interactive Network Philippines (SPIN.ph). Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020. The club said it will be getting 16 out of the 21 registered players of Ceres-Negros FC
  23. ^ Yumol, David Tristan (8 August 2020). "United City FC retains most of Ceres core with signing of Ott brothers". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  24. ^ Terrado, Reuben (10 October 2020). "Kaya FC-Iloilo signs Dylan de Bruycker after Ceres stint". Sports Interactive Network Philippines (SPIN.ph). Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  25. ^ Del Carmen, Lorenzo (26 June 2021). "Angeles strikes late as Kaya-Iloilo suffers rude ACL welcome vs BGPU". Tiebreaker Times. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  26. ^ Del Carmen, Lorenzo (19 November 2021). "Kenshiro Daniels goal sinks ADT, secures Copa Alcantara title for Kaya". Tiebreaker Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  27. ^ "เคยดวลบีจี! สวาทแคท คว้า 'เดอ บรุ๊คเกอร์' มิดฟิลด์คายา". Retrieved 10 December 2021.(in Thai) [dead link]
  28. ^ "UAAP MVPs Gayoso, Gadia banner Philippines' AFC U-23 squad". ABS-CBN Sports. 18 July 2017. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  29. ^ "Philippines falls to Japan in AFC U-23 tournament opener". ABS-CBN Sports. 20 July 2017. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  30. ^ "Philippine national team rosters released as SEAG football kicks off". Rappler. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  31. ^ Leongson, Randolph (25 August 2017). "PH football teams finish fourth in SEA Games". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  32. ^ "UAAP, NCAA stars highlight Philippine squad for AFF U22 Championship". ABS-CBN Sports. 15 February 2019. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  33. ^ a b Rajan, Adwaidh (27 March 2019). "AFC U-23 Championship 2020 Qualifiers: 5 talking points as Malaysia impress, Philippines falter in Group J". FOX Sports Asia. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  34. ^ Sharma, Sarthak (20 March 2019). "Sunderland star among Philippines 23-man squad for AFC U23 Championship 2020 Qualifiers". Fox Sports Asia. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  35. ^ Saldajeno, Ivan Stewart (22 November 2019). "Azkals team for SEA Games revealed". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  36. ^ Icasiano, Nissi (4 December 2019). "Azkals drub Timor-Leste, but Cambodia dashes PH's semis hope". Rappler. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  37. ^ "Azkals Squad For Yemen Clash". Philippine Football Federation. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  38. ^ "Etheridge back for Azkals vs Yemen". The Manila Times. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  39. ^ "Meliza, Kane get Azkals call up vs Yemen". The Manila Times. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  40. ^ Guerrero, Bob (7 December 2017). "Why Azkals fans shouldn't panic about the losses in Taiwan". Rappler. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  41. ^ Del Carmen, Lorenzo (6 December 2017). "Young Philippines squad loses twice in Chinese Taipei tourney". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  42. ^ Narayan, Grace (24 March 2018). "Gamel's Boys Scare Philippines". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 4 April 2018.

External links edit