Carlos_Matallanas

Carlos Matallanas

Carlos Matallanas

Spanish sports journalist and writer (1981–2021)

Carlos Matallanas (18 April 1981 – 9 March 2021) was a Spanish sports journalist and writer.[1] A former soccer player, his analyses mostly focused on that sport.[2][3]

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Biography

In summer 2013, Matallanas began suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), although he was not diagnosed for another year, when he retired from playing football.[4] He also left all of his recently begun coaching roles.[5][6] In 2014, he entered journalism, contributing to El Confidencial with articles about his everyday life suffering from ALS.[7] He also worked with Diario AS in a blog called "Silencio, se juega"[8] and had a book published titled La vida es un juego. Estrategia para Mario y Blanca.[9][10] The book was written as he was already bedridden and tetraplegic.[11]

In 2015, before his tetraplegia worsened, he received the Bronze Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit,[12] presented by Miguel Cardenal [es], for his fight against ALS and uplifting of sportsman values.[13] In 2018, the Association of Spanish Footballers created the Premio Carlos Matallanas for short novels, bringing together his passions for literature and football.[14]

At the end of 2014, Matallanas organized a friendly match at Estadio Fernando Torres to raise money and awareness for ALS patients.[15] It was the last time he ever was able to play in a football match.[16]

By 2016, Matallanas was unable to speak. In a documentary interview titled "Fútbol y Vida" that year, his brother, Gonzalo, read his texts. These texts ended up becoming published as a book José Antonio Martín titled ¿Quién dijo rendirse?.[17]

In 2017, Matallanas' former coach at Racing Club Portuense, Mere, hired him as an analyst.[18] He was then hired by CF Fuenlabrada and helped the club rise to the Segunda División and ended up the league's champion in 2019.[19][20] He left the club midway through the next season along with the dismissal of their coach.[21] In summer 2020, he signed with AD Alcorcón.[22]

Carlos Matallanas died of complications from ALS in Seville on 9 March 2021 at the age of 39.[23]

References

  1. [1]
    "Muere el exfutbolista y periodista Carlos Matallanas, símbolo de la lucha contra la ELA". 20 minutos (in Spanish). 9 March 2021.
  2. [2]
    "Carlos Matallanas: "A 2020 le pido vivirlo"". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2 January 2020.
  3. [3]
    "3.769. Carlos Alberto Gómez Matallanas. Ex futbolista del Portuense, periodista y escritor. La superación de un enfermo de ELA". Gente del Puerto (in Spanish). 17 October 2018.
  4. [4]
    "Hola, soy Carlos Matallanas y me acaban de diagnosticar ELA". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 1 October 2014.
  5. [5]
    "Carlos Matallanas, con ELA, ficha por el Fuenlabrada como analista". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 24 September 2018.
  6. [6]
    "La final de Champions la veré desde un asiento muy especial". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 25 May 2016.
  7. [7]
    "Hoy sale mi libro… y yo llevo dos meses en el hospital". El Confidencial (in Spanish).
  8. [8]
    "Carlos Matallanas". Diario AS (in Spanish).
  9. [9]
    "Carlos Matallanas publica el libro "La vida es un juego"". Golsmedia (in Spanish). 14 January 2021.
  10. [10]
    "Gracias de antemano por permitir que sigamos mejorando". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 16 December 2015.
  11. [11]
    "Así escribe Carlos Matallanas con sus pupilas y un ordenador". Diario AS (in Spanish). 21 June 2018.
  12. [12]
    ""Gracias por tu lucha, Carlos Matallanas"". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 27 November 2015.
  13. [13]
    "El CSD concede a Carlos Matallanas la Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo". Marca (in Spanish). 17 November 2015.
  14. [14]
    "La AFE crea el premio Carlos Matallanas de novela breve". ElDesmarque Actualidad (in Spanish). 3 October 2018.
  15. [15]
    "La Comunidad y FUNDELA se unen para remover conciencias y lograr apoyos a la investigación". Europa Press (in Spanish). 18 June 2019.
  16. [16]
    "Una victoria contra la ELA en el sentido homenaje realizado a Carlos Matallanas". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 27 December 2014.
  17. [17]
    "'¿Quién dijo rendirse?', Fernando Torres y Carlos Matallanas, fútbol y vida". ElDesmarque Actualidad (in Spanish). 18 May 2017.
  18. [18]
    "Homenaje del Racing Portuense a Carlos Matallanas". Diario de Cadiz (in Spanish). 26 October 2018.
  19. [19]
    "El Fuenlabrada ficha a Carlos Matallanas para su cuerpo técnico". ElDesmarque Actualidad (in Spanish). 24 September 2018.
  20. [20]
    "El Fuenlabrada se proclama campeón de Segunda B". Marca (in Spanish). 12 June 2019.
  21. [21]
    "Carlos Matallanas deja de ser analista del Fuenlabrada tras la destitución de Mere". COPE (in Spanish). 11 March 2020.
  22. [22]
    "Este es el cuerpo técnico que acompaña a Mere Hermoso en la temporada 2020/2021". Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón (in Spanish). 28 August 2020.
  23. [23]
    "Muere Carlos Matallanas, periodista enfermo de ELA". El Periodico (in Spanish). 9 March 2021.
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