Reuters Soccer Blog

Should Spain break the mould and go for Del Bosque?

Spain’s likely performance at Euro 2008 remains an enigma but one thing that can be guaranteed is that Luis Aragones will step down as coach at the end of the tournament.

The grand old man of Spanish football has made it clear that he will be going at the end of June, a month before his 70th birthday, and after four turbulent years at the helm there will many who will be heaving a sigh of relief.

The atmosphere in Spanish football is tense enough without having a figure like Aragones as its most high-profile international representative. From the moment he took charge after the last European Championship, he has never been far away from controversy. From his derogatory comments about Thierry Henry, to his intermittent threats to quit, his decision to exclude Raul or his tendency to fly off the handle during news conferences, Aragones has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Brusque, outspoken and at times inadvertently comic, Aragones comes from the same mould as two recent predecessors Jose Antonio Camacho and Javier Clemente. But the word is that after his departure, the Federation will appoint former Real Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque.