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 Summ ...

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 (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Sydney 2000, and the 2007 European Champion.

Personal life

Falasca was born in

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (), officially the City of Mendoza (), is the capital of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Mendoza Province, Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plain ...

. His grandfather came from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. His father, Juan Carlos, was a retired

volleyball player {{short description, none This is a list of lists of volleyball players, and of notable examples in fiction. Lists of notable players * List of international volleyball players * List of American beach volleyball players * List of Chinese volleyb ...

from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and his mother was a native

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

. At the age of 15, due to the unstable economic situation in Argentina, the Falasca family decided to move to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Miguel, his sister María Elisa, 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 Amador (born 1974), American musician * Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Span ...

, and his parents settled in

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

. He eventually married Esther Custodio. They had two children: a daughter, Sara (born 2004), and a son, Daniel (born 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 Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

the next day at the age of 46 in

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

, where he was staying with his wife, despite a resuscitation attempt.

Career as coach

Falasca began coaching with

PGE Skra Bełchatów PGE may refer to: * Pacific Gas and Electric Company, commonly abbreviated PG&E * Pacific Gas & Electric (band), an American blues rock band * Pacific Great Eastern Railway, the original name of BC Rail * Parser Grammar Engine, Perl 6 rule compil ...

in 2013. In the first season of his work, PGE Skra won a title of Polish Champion 2013-14. It was the eighth title of Polish Champion in the club's history. On 1 July 2014, the club extended the contract with him until 2017. In February 2016, he became the head coach of the

Czech Republic men's national volleyball team The Czech Republic national men's volleyball team is controlled by the Czech Volleyball Federation, which represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. Czech Republic is ranked 22nd (as of January 2023) in the FIVB w ...

. In March 2016,

, 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 tota ...

(the first match Skra won 3–2). Following this loss, Falasca was dismissed during the subsequent club meeting, with an announcement on 28 March 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

2002–03 – with Kerakoll Modena ** Silver medal europe

2011–12 – with

* 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 to CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 to CEV Cup. T ...

2001–02 – 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. The club was founded on February 12, 1964. Officially they started in the lowest di ...

2005–06 – 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. The competition started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed to CEV Challenge Cup. History * # ...

2004–05 – with Son Amar Palma de Mallorca ** Simple silver cup

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

– with

Ural Ufa Ural Ufa (, ) – is a Russian professional men's volleyball club, based in Ufa, playing in Russian Volleyball Super League since 1996. Achievements * CEV Challenge Cup ::Runners-up (1): 2013 * Russian Championship ::Runners-up (1): 2013 Tea ...

* Domestic ** 1996–97 Simple gold cup

Spanish Cup, with CV Las Palmas ** 2000–01 Simple gold cup

Belgian SuperCup, with Knack Roeselare ** 2004–05 Simple gold cup

Spanish Cup, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2005–06 Simple gold cup

Spanish Cup, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2005–06 Gold medal with cup

Spanish Championship, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2006–07 Gold medal with cup

Spanish Championship, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2007–08 Gold medal with cup

Spanish Championship, with Portol Palma de Mallorca ** 2008–09 Simple gold cup

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2008–09 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2009–10 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2010–11 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2010–11 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2011–12 Simple gold cup

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

Summer Universiade The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

As a coach

2018–19 – with Saugella Monza * Domestic ** 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 2024, the Polish Super Cup has been p ...

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2013–14 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with PGE Skra Bełchatów ** 2015–16 Simple gold cup

, with PGE Skra Bełchatów

Individual awards

* 2007: FIVB World Cup – Best setter * 2009: Polish Cup – Best server * 2009: European League – Best setter * 2012: Polish Cup – Most valuable player * 2012: Polish Cup – Best setter