Dion Cools

Dion-Johan Chai Cools (born 4 June 1996) is a Malaysian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or full-back for Thai League 1 club Buriram United and the Malaysia national team.

Cools was raised in Belgium, and represented that country at youth level with 28 caps, but later chose to play for his native Malaysia, and made his senior debut on 3 June 2021.

Early life
Cools was born in Kuching, Sarawak to a Belgian father, Hans Cools and a Malaysian mother, Xylina Chai. The couple relocated to Belgium more than 20 years ago, following their marriage. Dion was named by his parents after Johan Cruyff and Dion Dublin, the latter being a former player for Coventry City and Manchester United.

Early years
Cools started his career with Tempo Overijse, but soon moved to OH Leuven as a 9-year-old. In 2010, he joined the Anderlecht youth team. After a season, he returned to the OH Leuven youth academy in 2013. He signed his first professional contract with the club in July 2014 after completing secondary school.

OH Leuven
On 3 August 2014, Cools made his debut in the first team of OH Leuven, competing in the Belgian Second Division. He was in the starting lineup for the away match against Racing Mechelen. In May 2015, he participated with OH Leuven in the final round for promotion. Cools did not miss a single minute of the final round and won promotion to the Belgian First Division A again with the club.

Club Brugge
On 23 June 2015, Cools signed a four-year contract with Club Brugge. He won two Belgian national titles and twice the Belgian Super Cup. Cools became a starter under head coach Michel Preud'homme in the 2016–17 season due to poor performances by former Dutch international Ricardo van Rhijn, who had initially become the starter after the departure of regular right-back Thomas Meunier to Paris-Saint Germain. Cools also remained a starter under new coach Ivan Leko, with whom he was reunited after his time with OH Leuven. Cools would, however, later become benched after the emergence of Clinton Mata at the position.

Midtjylland
On 31 January 2020, Cools signed a three-year contract with Midtjylland in the Danish Superliga. He made his debut for the club on 17 February in a 2–0 win over Lyngby. Cools scored his first goal for the club on 14 February 2021, the only goal of the match in a win over Horsens in the Superliga.

Initially, Cools played regularly under coach Brian Priske but suffered a foot injury that kept him out of action for three months. During his recovery, Priske left the club, and the incoming coach did not feature Cools as prominently in the team. Despite working to regain his position, another injury, this time to his pelvis, further disrupted his progress. Off the field, Cools faced challenges adapting to life in Denmark, citing a lack of social interactions and the country's long, wet winters as contributing factors.

Cools and FC Midtjylland have mutually agreed to cancel his contract with the club on 9 September 2022, making him a free agent.

Loan to Zulte Waregem
On 4 January 2022, Cools was loaned out to Zulte Waregem by Midtjylland until the end of the 2021–22 season as Cools was looking for more playing time, according to Midtjylland's director of football.

During his stint at this club, Cools playing time was inconsistent and he found integrating back into Belgian football challenging. He questioned whether his mindset was right for playing back home again, and he admitted to not playing with complete freedom. The team was also in a difficult period as they were fighting against relegation. Therefore, his performance and overall experience at Zulte Waregem were mixed.

FK Jablonec
On 12 September 2022, Cools signed for Czech Republic club, FK Jablonec on a short-term deal. He stated that the motivation behind the move is to get more playing time as his former club, Midtjylland, decided to switch to a different playing system, which curtailed his playing time.

Buriram United
On 3 January 2023, Cools signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Buriram United in the Thai League 1 on a free transfer. He made his debut for the club on 22 January in a 3–0 win over Sukhothai after selected to the starting eleven against the club and played full 90 minutes of the match. On 22 April, Cools lift the 2022–23 Thai League 1 title after securing a win 2–1 against Chiangrai United. In his first season, he helped the club to win the domestic treble.

On 18 February 2024, Cools scored his first league goal in a 4–3 away win against Trat.

Youth
Cools was called up for 2015 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification by Belgian Under-19 national team coach, Gert Verheyen. He was also eligible to play for Malaysia through his mother's bloodline.

Additionally, due to her mother's ancestry which can be traced to Guangdong, China, at one time, Cools was in discussions with Jiangsu Suning about the possibility of naturalizing to play for the China national team. However, the complex nature of the naturalization process led to the abandonment of those discussions.

Senior
On 1 June 2021, Cools was announced as the newest addition to Malaysia's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers match against UAE, after paperwork for his eligibility was completed with FIFA and the AFC. He debuted for Malaysia in a 4–0 loss to the UAE on 3 June 2021.

Cools scored his first international goal in Malaysia's final AFC 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers match against Bangladesh, helping Malaysia secure a 4–1 win, which confirmed Malaysia's AFC Asian Cup qualification for the first time by merit in 42 years. Cools was named as the man of the match. Cools also represent the nation at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup where he captained them.

On 16 November 2023 during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match, Dion scored 2 goals against Kyrgyzstan when Malaysia was 3–1 down before the side bounced back to a 4–3 win.

Personal life
Cools and his girlfriend, Melissa Schelfhout had a child named Liam-Zayn Cools, before getting married on 6 May 2022.

Cools has stated that his footballing idol is Club Brugge legend, Gert Verheyen.

International

 * Scores and results list Malaysia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cools goal.

Honours
OH Leuven
 * Belgian Second Division play-offs: 2015

Club Brugge
 * Belgian First Division A: 2015–16, 2017–18
 * Belgian Super Cup: 2016, 2018

Midtjylland
 * Danish Superliga: 2019–20

Buriram United
 * Thai League 1: 2022–23, 2023–24
 * Thai League Cup: 2022–23
 * Thai FA Cup: 2022–23
 * Thailand Champions Cup runner-up: 2023

Malaysia Individual
 * King's Cup runner-up: 2022
 * Pestabola merdeka runner-up: 2023
 * Thai League Dream ASEAN XI