Sports|Football

Former Spain coach Aragones dies

Luis Aragones, who managed Spain to glory at Euro 2008 and sparked the country’s golden era, has died aged 75.

Coach Luis Aragones of Spain dies aged 75 [Getty Images]
Published On 1 Feb 2014

The Spanish football federation says former Spain coach Luis Aragones, who helped shape the team’s rise from perennial underachiever to global powerhouse by winning the 2008 European Championship, has died.

The 75-year-old passed away at 6.15am in the Centro de Madrid clinic in the Spanish capital, said the RFEF, who expressed their sorrow at the loss of the “Spain national coach at the start of their glorious run of success in world football.”

Keep reading

list of 4 itemsend of list
Aragones honours
  • Player: La Liga (1966, 1970, 1973) and Copa del Generalisimo (1965 & 1972)with Atletico Madrid
  • Club manager: La Liga (1977), Copa del Rey (1976, 1985, 1992), Intercontinental Cup (1974) with Atletico Madrid and Copa del Rey (1988) with Barcelona
  • National manager: European Championship (2008) with Spain

Spain were long regarded as under-achievers but Aragones changed that perception with the 2008 victory which paved the way for further triumphs under Vicente del Bosque at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

Aragones realised the need to get rid of old players in the Spain dressing room like Raul and Michel Salgado and create a new playing style based on the short-passing football that was bringing success at Barcelona.

The often eccentric coach was derided in the Spanish press for dropping the established stars before results started to improve.

He chose to stand down after the Euro success and then went on to coach Turkish side Fenerbahce which ended in failure after one season in 2009.

Source: Reuters