| According to an article in today's Marca football daily, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Ángel María Villar, has met twice with Luis Aragonés to discuss the national coach's recent behaviour. It seems that the two men met last Friday and again yesterday to discuss the controversy surrounding the recent Euro 2008 qualifiers.
Dismissing rumours that Aragonés is in danger of losing his job, Villar is, nonetheless, insisting on a change of attitude, especially with regard to the press. Aragonés, who was very unhappy with media reaction to Spain's 1-1 draw with Iceland, refused to talk to the media following Spain's 2-0 victory against Latvia last Wednesday.
Villar has reportedly made it clear that Aragonés must make amends prior to the crucial match against Denmark next month by calling a press conference on the 4th October to announce the squad and answer questions regarding his selection criteria and tactics.
Saturday, 8th September Iceland 1 Spain 1 Latvia 1 Northern Ireland 0 Sweden 0 Denmark 0
Wednesday, 12 September 2007 Denmark 4 Liechtenstein 0 Iceland 2-2 Northern Ireland Spain 2 Latvia 0
Group F, points and goal difference 1 Sweden 19 (+13)+ 2 Spain 19 (+9)* 3 Northern Ireland 16 (+3)* 4 Denmark 14 (+8)+ 5 Iceland 8 (-9)* 6 Latvia 6 (-4)+ 7 Liechtenstein 4 (-20)* * played 9 + played 8 Saturday, 13 October 2007 Denmark v Spain Iceland v Latvia Liechtenstein v Sweden
Wednesday, 17 October 2007 Denmark v Latvia Liechtenstein v Iceland Sweden v Northern Ireland
Saturday, 17 November 2007 Latvia v Liechtenstein Northern Ireland v Denmark Spain v Sweden
Wednesday, 21 November 2007 Denmark v Iceland Spain v Northern Ireland Sweden v Latvia
Aragonés to step down after Euro 2008 By: thinkSPAIN Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Spain's national football coach, Luis Aragonés, confirmed during an interview broadcast on Cadena SER radio last night that he will be stepping down after next year's European Cup finals. "I've spoken to the Federation and told them to start thinking about my replacement. It's very difficult, not to say impossible, that I'll be carrying on after Euro 2008," he said.
The announcement follows the appointment of former Spain and Real Madrid defender, Fernando Hierro, as the new sporting director of the Spanish Royal Football Federation (RFEF).
Aragonés, who said that he is tired, fed up with the constant media attention and feels that he has lost the confidence of the players, although they claim the contrary, confirmed during last night's interview that he has already spoken to Hierro and told him of his intention to step down.
It is widely rumoured that former Real manager, Vicente del Bosque, will be named as Aragonés's replacement.
Following a lacklustre 1-1 draw against Iceland last weekend, Spain must beat Latvia tonight (10pm, TVE 1) at Oviedo's new Carlos Tartiere stadium to keep their qualification hopes alive. |