In an interview with Vozpopuli, former Spain boss Luis Aragones has confirmed he will not sit on the bench again.
The 75-year-old, known as the ‘Wise Man of Hortaleza’ after his birthplace, steered La Roja to their 2008 European Championship triumph and is widely recognised as having initiated the best era in the history of the Spanish national team.
A former striker, Aragones began his coaching career with Atletico Madrid in 1974 and went on to take charge at some of Spain’s most illustrious clubs, including Barcelona, Espanyol, Sevilla, Real Betis and Valencia, while his last job was with Fenerbahce in the 2008-09 season.
“It is very difficult for me to coach now and you can say that the Luis Aragones’ era is now over. I’m not going to coach anymore.
“It was not a difficult decision to make. When I left Turkey I knew it would be difficult to continue doing this and today I know it’s for definite,” he declared, before referring to his time as Spain Coach and his decision to dispense with legendary striker Raul Gonzalez.
“What I did was forge an idea of how players should play with the national side and how they interpreted it. That was to put the team before everything else.
“I haven’t said anything about what happened with Raul, whether he accepted it or not. He even called me to hold a joint Press conference, thinking he would get something out of it, but he got nothing.
“At that time we were getting much more from [Fernando] Torres and [David] Villa.”
Always a controversial figure, Aragones could not resist a dig at the Spanish Football Federation for not tying him to a new contract following the Euro 2008 success.
“After winning the European Championship it would have been normal for them to try and make me stay, but I was not going to. It was impossible.
“But they did nothing, although it was the right time to go,” he admitted.
