Aragones ready to confirm his place in record books

By Simon Baskett

VIENNA (Reuters) - The oldest coach at Euro 2008, Luis Aragones, heads into his final match in charge of Spain with the chance of going down in the record books as his country's most successful manager.

Aragones, who will turn 70 in July, has steered Spain past the dreaded quarter-final barrier for the first time in 24 years and led them to what is only their third appearance in a final of a major tournament.

He has chalked up a record 38 wins -- if you include the penalty shoot-out victory over Italy -- and has lost just four of the 53 games while he has been at the helm.

If Spain manage to beat Germany in Sunday's final he will join Jose Villalonga as the only coach to have brought a major international trophy back to Spain.

Villalonga did it in 1964 when Spain beat the Soviet Union on home soil in the European Championship but winning it in Austria in a 16-strong final tournament would be an even bigger achievement.

On occasion Aragones gives the impression of being a slightly eccentric, somewhat irascible grandfather, but over half a century of experience in top flight football has given him an unrivalled knowledge of the game.

He is not a master tactician, his training methods are old school but "El Sabio" (the wise one) is a great motivator and appears to have the knack of getting the best out of his players on the big occasions.

WIDELY RESPECTED

Aragones, who looks likely to head to Turkish club Fenerbahce after the tournament, has never been a man to allow interference by others in his work and had high-profile public clashes with club presidents while a Primera Liga coach.

He has not been afraid to criticise the Spanish Football Federation either and has threatened to resign on several occasions.

He is, however, widely respected by the players who have been under his control and has never been afraid to confront those he has felt have not come up to scratch.

With more senior figures like Raul and keeper Santiago Canizares now out of the way, Aragones has been able to impose himself more easily on his young team.

He has an almost paternal approach to dealing with young players like Fernando Torres and Sergio Ramos, even though as with many father-son relationships there is the occasional blow-up.

As Spain coach he knows he is going to teach the players little about skill and technique, he has accepted that they will never match the physicality of the Russians or the Germans, but what he has done is help develop a fierce team spirit and winning mentality among his players.

"The boss has known how to press us and we came here not just to overcome the psychological barrier (of the quarters), but to win the title," midfielder Xavi told sports daily AS on Saturday.