Francisco Javier Falagán Hernández (born 4 October 1969) is a Spanish retired

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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, and is the goalkeeping coach of

Extremadura UD Extremadura Unión Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2007, it last played in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Francisco de la ...

Football career

Born in

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

, Falagán played in the lower leagues until 1993, when he represented

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

loaned by neighbouring

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

. Whilst with the former club, he had already won promotion to that tier in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. In 1995–96, Falagán played all 42 matches in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

with

SD Compostela Sociedade Deportiva Compostela is a Spanish football team based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. They play home matches at San Lázaro, and compete in . History A team called Compostela Foot-ball Club was founded in 1928, ceasing to exist ...

, his solid performances earning him a place in

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

's shortlist 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 ...

as one of the five goalkeepers. In the following season he appeared significantly less, but still managed to be the most used player in his position as the

Galicians Galicians ( or ''pobo galego''; ) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct cu ...

again retained their league status. Falagán played three more seasons in the second level, with Hércules and

CP Mérida Club Polideportivo Mérida was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Mérida, Spain, Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Having played twice in La Liga (1995–96 La Liga, 1995–96 and 1997–98 La Li ...

. He retired at the end of the 1999–2000 campaign at the age of only 30, due to injury. Falagán later worked as a goalkeeper coach, with Porriño CF, CD Casablanca,

Gran Peña FC Gran Peña Fútbol Club is a Spanish football club based in the parish of Lavadores, Vigo, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1926 it currently plays in , holding home games at '' Municipal de Barreiro'', with a 4,500-seat capaci ...

Coruxo FC Coruxo Fútbol Club is a Spanish football club based in the parish of Coruxo, Vigo, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1930 it plays in , holding home matches at '' O Vao'', with a capacity of 1,500 spectators. The association ...

and

. He then continued coaching goalkeepers at Chinese club

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club (), previously Guangzhou Evergrande (), was a Chinese professional football club based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Historically, Guangzhou FC played its home matches at various grounds in their home city, most notably at T ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Falagan, Javier 1969 births Living people Footballers from Valladolid Spanish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Coruxo FC players Sevilla Atlético players Getafe CF footballers CD Fuengirola players Hércules CF players Valencia CF players SD Compostela footballers CP Mérida footballers Spanish football managers 20th-century Spanish sportsmen