Régis Hervé Genaux (31 August 1973 – 8 November 2008) was a Belgian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. During his career he represented three clubs in three countries, mainly

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the mo ...

and

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a foo ...

. He died at the young age of 35 from the effects of a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathing ...

.Le joueur Régis Genaux est décédé (Footballer Régis Genaux passes away)
La Libre, 8 November 2008
UEFA.com, 8 November 2008

Club career

After having started playing football with R. Charleroi SC, Genaux began his professional career aged 17 at

, where he helped to win one

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

and achieved two Pro League runner-up places. In 1996 Genaux moved to England, joining

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

. However, his spell at the club lasted just half a season, with only four

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

appearances before he signed, in January 1997, with Italy's

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a f ...

. Due to persisting injuries during the most part of his career, Genaux retired at just 29, after having returned to Standard for a final season. Afterwards he moved into coaching, starting with the youths at R.A.A. Louviéroise and

R.C.S. Verviétois Royal Cercle Sportif Verviétois – Football Club Sérésien was a Belgian association football club from the municipality of Verviers, Liège. It last played in the Belgian Third Division B during the 2014–15 season where it finish ...

; for a few months in 2006, he took the reins of third division side RFC Sérésien (formerly Seraing).

International career

Genaux played 22 times (being selected 27) with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, the first being on 16 February 1992, in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, aged not yet 19. He seemed poised to be the successor of

Eric Gerets Eric Maria Gerets (, born 18 May 1954) is a Belgian football manager and former player who played as a right back. He started his playing career as an amateur for his local team AA Rekem, before achieving success with Standard Liège and PSV. ...

in the ''Diables Rouges'', although he was not picked up for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...

. Genaux became a regular fixture in the following years, but Belgium failed to qualify for

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

. With the arrival of

Georges Leekens Georges Leekens (born 18 May 1949) is a Belgian football manager and former player. During his managerial career, he was in charge of four national teams: the Belgian, Tunisian, Algerian and Hungarian national football teams. He also manage ...

, he lost his place in the national team, and was also not selected for the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

at the expense of

Éric Deflandre Éric Deflandre (born 2 August 1973) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Club career Deflandre was born in Rocourt. He first signed to Wandre Union but after one year he joined Liège side RFC Liège. He the ...

and

Bertrand Crasson Bertrand Crasson (born 5 October 1971) is a Belgian football manager and former player who played as a defender, in the position of right-back or centre-back. Most recently he was the manager of Luxemburger team F91 Dudelange. Club career Cra ...

; regarded as one of the best right-backs in Belgium in the 90s, he would not attend any major international tournaments, also missing

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

due to injury.

Personal life

*Genaux's brother, Terrence, was also a footballer, with the pair being distantly related to

Vivica Genaux Vivica Genaux (; born July 10, 1969) is an American coloratura mezzo-soprano. She was born in Fairbanks, Alaska. She has sung in major operas such as ''The Barber of Seville'' at the Metropolitan Opera, ''L'italiana in Algeri'' at Opéra National ...

, a mezzo-soprano. *At Standard, alongside fellow internationals

Philippe Léonard Philippe Léonard (born 14 February 1974) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a left back. After playing most notably for Standard Liège and Monaco, he rarely appeared for his following four teams (including Standard agai ...

and

Michaël Goossens Michaël Goossens (born 30 November 1973) is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a striker. Club career Born in Ougrée, Seraing, Goossens started playing professionally with R.F.C. Seraing at the age of 16, then moved to Standard Liège ...

, he was part of

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

generation, hailed for their sporting talent but with a troublesome character (with Roberto Bisconti playing a smaller role).

Death

On 8 November 2008, Genaux died from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

due to a

, whilst in his house. He was only 35.

Honours

Standard Liège *

: 1992–93 Belgian Cup, 1992–93 Udinese *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, ' betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International F ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Genaux, Regis 1973 births 2008 deaths Footballers from Charleroi Men's association football defenders Belgian men's footballers Belgian Pro League players Royal Charleroi S.C. players Standard Liège players Premier League players Coventry City F.C. players Serie A players Udinese Calcio players Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Belgium men's international footballers Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Italy