About Sébastien Pocognoli
Sébastien Jean Pocognoli (born 1 August 1987) is a Belgian football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Monaco. A left-back, Pocognoli played for Standard Liège, Genk, AZ, Hannover 96, West Bromwich Albion, Brighton & Hove Albion and Union SG. A Belgian youth international from under-16 to under-23 levels, he earned 13 caps for the Belgium senior national team. == Early and personal life == Born in Seraing, Pocognoli is of Italian descent. Pocognoli revealed that his father worked next to the stadium. Growing up, he revealed that he initially hated football, but thanks to his stubborn father, he grew to like football as a sport. == Club career == === Genk === Pocognoli began his career with the youth team of Standard Liège, but left at the age of 15 to join Genk, where the club offered him a professional contract and felt Standard Liège would not give him first-team opportunities if he had stayed. Pocognoli made his Genk debut, where he came on as a substitute for Marco Ingrao in the second half, in a 1–0 win over Gent on 9 April 2004, which was his sole appearance that season. However, the new manager René Vandereycken sent him to the reserve team the following season. In 2006, he made a first-team breakthrough at the club, and played his first game for the previous two years on 22 January 2006, where he made his first start and played 69 minutes before being substituted in a 2–1 loss against Charleroi. In the next game against Westerlo on 28 January 2006, Pocognoli scored his first Genk goal (and his first professional goal), in a 2–0 win.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.