Miguel Ángel Falasca Fernández (29 April 1973 – 22 June 2019) was an Argentine-born Spanish professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

player and coach. He was a member of the Spain national team from 1993 to 2009, a participant in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, and the 2007 European Champion.

Personal life

Falasca was born in

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (, ), officially the City of Mendoza ( es, Ciudad de Mendoza) is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern si ...

. His grandfather came from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. His father Juan Carlos was a retired

volleyball player This is a list of top international volleyball players. A * Foluke Akinradewo * Carolina Albuquerque * Todor Aleksiev * Ana Ida Alvares * Thiago Soares Alves * Dante Amaral * Andrea Anastasi * Matt Anderson * Stéphane Antiga * Halina As ...

from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and his mother was a native

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both i ...

. At the age of 16, due to the unstable economic situation in Argentina, the Falasca family decided to move to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Miguel, his parents, sister Mariel and his younger brother

Guillermo Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People * Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanish football manager and former player * Guillermo A ...

, were sent to Málaga first, and then to the Canary Islands. He was married to Esther Custodio. They had two children - his daughter called Sara (2004) and his son Daniel (2002).

Death

On 21 June 2019 Falasca was at the wedding of his friend and assistant of the Saugella Monza club in Italy, when he felt ill and went to his hotel room. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

the next day at the age of 46 in

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

where he was staying with his wife, despite a resuscitation attempt. Miguel Ángel Falasca 01

Career as coach

Falasca had been working as a first coach of PGE Skra Bełchatów since 2013. In the first season of his work, PGE Skra won a title of Polish Champion 2013/2014. It was the 8th title of Polish Champion in the club's history. On July 1, 2014, the club extended the contract with him until 2017. In February 2016 he was head coach of the Czech Republic men's national volleyball team. In March 2016 PGE Skra Bełchatów led by Falasca lost the second match with Zenit Kazan in playoffs 6 of

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

(the first match Skra won 3–2). After this loss Falasca has been dismissed during the subsequent club meeting. The decision was announced on March 28, 2016. In May 2016 he signed a two-year contract with Italian club Gi Group Monza.''Miguel Angel Falasca będzie prowadził włoski klub Gi Group Monza''
– onet.pl – 11-05-2016

Honours

As a player

2002/2003 – with Kerakoll Modena ** Silver medal europe

2011/2012 – with PGE Skra Bełchatów * FIVB Club World Championship ** Silver medal world centered-2

Doha 2009 – with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** Silver medal world centered-2

Doha 2010 – with PGE Skra Bełchatów *

CEV Cup The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year. Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 it was renamed CE ...

2001/2002 – with

Knack Roeselare Knack Roeselare is a Belgian professional men's volleyball club based in Roeselare. They compete in the Euro Millions Volley League and the CEV Champions League. Honours Domestic * Belgian Championship :Winners (13): 1988–89, 1999–2000, 2 ...

2005/2006 – with Portol Palma de Mallorca *

CEV Challenge Cup The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. It started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed CEV Challenge Cup. History * CEV Cup (1980� ...

2004/2005 – with Son Amar Palma de Mallorca ** Simple silver cup

2012/2013 – with

Ural Ufa Ural Ufa (russian: «Урал» Уфа, ba, «Урал» Өфө) – is a Russian professional men's volleyball club, based in Ufa, playing in Russian Volleyball Super League The Russian Volleyball Super League (RVSL) (russian: Волейб ...

* National championships ** 1996/1997 Simple gold cup

Spanish Cup, with CV Las Palmas ** 2000/2001 Simple gold cup

Belgian SuperCup, with

** 2004/2005 Simple gold cup

Spanish Cup, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2005/2006 Simple gold cup

Spanish Cup, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2005/2006 Gold medal with cup

Spanish Championship, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2006/2007 Gold medal with cup

Spanish Championship, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2007/2008 Gold medal with cup

Spanish Championship, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2008/2009 Simple gold cup

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in football ( pl, Puchar Polski w piłce nożnej ) is an elimination tournament for Polish football clubs, held continuously from 1950, and is the second most important national title in Polish football after the Ekstraklasa title. ...

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2008/2009 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2009/2010 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2010/2011 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2010/2011 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2011/2012 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów *Universiade ** 1995 Silver FISU

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

As a coach

2018/2019 – with Saugella Monza * National championships ** 2013/2014 Simple gold cup

Polish SuperCup The Polish Super Cup (, ) is an annually held match between the champions of the Ekstraklasa and the Polish Cup winners or, if the Ekstraklasa champions also win the Polish Cup, the Cup's runners-up. As of 2021, the Polish Super Cup has been ...

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2013/2014 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2015/2016 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów

Individual awards

* 2007: FIVB World Cup – Best Setter * 2009: Polish Cup – Best Server * 2009:

European League The WSE Champions League is an annual club roller hockey competition organised by World Skate Europe - Rink Hockey and contested by teams from the top-ranked European leagues. The current champions are Italian side Trissino, which secured thei ...

– Best Setter * 2012: Polish Cup – Most Valuable Player * 2012: Polish Cup – Best Setter