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MADRID, Spain -- Luis Aragones, the former Spain coach who shaped the teams rise from perennial underachiever to global powerhouse with a long-awaited title at the 2008 European Championship, has died. He was 75. The Spanish football federation announced the death early Saturday, saying Aragones died at a Madrid hospital. He had been battling leukemia. Federation president Angel Maria Villar said Aragones would be remembered as "very special" -- both for his contributions to Spanish football and as a person. "With him we have lived the beginning of an extraordinary phase in football as well as for Spanish society," Villar said. "This has been a painful dawn for our football." Aragones had a successful playing career as a sharpshooting international forward who earned 11 caps for Spain, and then spent the rest of his life as a much-travelled coach. However, he will mostly be remembered for what happened on June 29, 2008, when his team beat Germany 1-0 in Vienna to claim its first major title in 44 years. "Luis Aragones changed the history of Spanish football," Spain captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas said. "And for that we will always be thankful." The Euro 2008 triumph was the culmination of Aragones four-year reign as Spain coach, having taken over a team that for the last 20 years had earned a reputation for always coming up short in major tournaments. But Aragones instilled a new sense of belief in his players, even after losing to France in the second round of the 2006 World Cup. He also made the team adopt the quick-passing "tiki-taka" style of football made famous by Barcelona, and which his players came close to perfecting at Euro 2008. Led by Barcelona midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta -- and the goalscoring of David Villa -- Spain went undefeated through the tournament, but needed a penalty shootout against Italy to advance from the quarterfinals. While Aragones stepped down after the tournament, the team went on to win its first World Cup two years later and then added an unprecedented third straight major title at Euro 2012 under his successor Vicente del Bosque. "Without a doubt, our current run of success is a result of his legacy," Del Bosque said on Saturday, after paying his respects to Aragones family. "He had a long history of coaching experience and he had a special appreciation for the game." But Aragones time in charge wasnt without controversy. He made a racist slur about France striker Thierry Henry -- who is black -- during a training session in October, 2004, and followed that remark with an outburst about Englands colonial past. His comments were believed to have prompted ugly racist chants directed at Englands black players during a friendly against Spain in Madrid. The Spanish Football Federation refused to bow to pressure to fire Aragones, although it fined him 3,000 euros, a punishment which many felt was too lenient. Denying he was a racist, Aragones explained that his comment about Henry was an attempt to motivate forward Jose Antonio Reyes, and he received important backing from several black players he had coached previously. In February, 2007, Aragones won a legal appeal against the Spanish Committee for Sporting Disciplines ruling that his behaviour could have fostered "violent, racist or xenophobic acts." Spanish media also often complained about his grouchy demeanour and had regularly called for his dismissal during the two years before the teams triumph. There was another uproar toward the end of 2006 when he dropped the national teams all-time leading scorer and captain, Real Madrids Raul Gonzalez, arguing that he was past his prime. It proved a masterstroke. The team embarked on a 22-game unbeaten run which culminated with the 2008 title, making Aragones the oldest coach to win a European Championship title. Despite the victory, the Spanish federation made no attempt to persuade him to extend his contract and five days later he moved abroad for the first time to take charge of Turkish club Fenerbahce, a couple of weeks before his 70th birthday. "Im leaving because there wasnt more done for me to stay," Aragones said at the time. His playing career began 43 years earlier, when Aragones joined Atletico Madrid. He scored 123 times in 265 games for the team -- the second highest in its history -- and helped the club win three Spanish league titles and two Copa del Reys. It also reached the 1974 European Cup final, where it lost to Bayern Munich in a replay. Aragones, nicknamed "The Sage of Hortaleza" in reference to the Madrid suburb of his birth, was then appointed as Atletico coach and led the team to the 1975 World Club Championship, the 1976 Copa del Rey and the 1977 league title. He coached Atletico on a total of five occasions and he had two spells each at Mallorca and Real Betis. He was also in charge of Barcelona, Espanyol, Sevilla, Valencia and Oviedo in a career total of 757 games, a Spanish league record. Aragones is survived by his wife Pepa, five children and 11 grandchildren. Jeremy Zuttah Jersey . Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night. Eugene Monroe Jersey . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. 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Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1.BEAVER CREEK, Colo. -- Jessica Lindell-Vikarby won a World Cup giant slalom Sunday, holding off the 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin with a fluid final run. The Swede finished the two runs on a demanding Beaver Creek course in 2 minutes, 17.92 seconds, with Shiffrin 0.09 seconds behind. Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein took third. Shiffrin was spurred on by a frenzied home crowd, but all the noise down low didnt appear to rattle Lindell-Vikarby, who won a World Cup race for the first time since 2009. "I tried to stay focus and do my own run," she said. "I cant do anything else than just ski." There was not a trace of disappointment from Shiffrin, though. She was quite pleased with her first top-three finish in the event. After all, Shiffrin is a slalom specialist who just recently started working on improving her giant slalom technique. Being this quick, this fast was something she didnt expect, even if it is her favourite hill, with her home about 10 minutes away. Her solid performance salvaged an otherwise forgettable weekend for the Americans as the team struggled at Beaver Creek. "I followed through with my plan. I really just wanted to go out and ski as well as I could today," Shiffrin said. "Im really happy with how today went." The teenager was accorded the Lindsey Vonn treatment by the large crowd. They cheered the skier from nearby Eagle-Vail by ringing bells and holding up signs with her picture on it. Shiffrin could very well be the face of the Sochi Games for the U.S., especially with Vonn trying to come back from a right knee injury following a recent crash in training. This was a difficult course, too, with Lara Gut of Switzerland struggling and failing to finish the first run. Gut won the downhill and super-G the last two days. "Of course, Im a bit angry after today," Gut said. "But its even better than I couldve imagined." Shiffrin placed sixth in the GS in Soelden, Austria, for her best World cup result in the event. But she knew she could ski better. This time, she went for it. After finishing her runn, Shiffrin pumped her fist in the air, then took off her ski, pumping that in the air, too.dddddddddddd With only Lindell-Vikarby left, a win looked very possible. It wasnt to be. Not on this day. In between runs, Shiffrin actually looked at video of Lindell-Vikarbys run and had a feeling she was going to throw down another fast one. "I knew that going out of the gate had to give it my all," Shiffrin said. In the week leading to the race, Shiffrin kept a low profile. But she couldnt avoid the spotlight after Sunday, not after this kind of performance. Little kids lined the fence begging for her autograph. Shiffrin happily obliged. "Its awesome to be here, feel the crowd and see everybody so excited about skiing," Shiffrin said. After winning the World Cup overall slalom title last season, Shiffrin decided to branch out over the off-season and work on her GS. "My only expectation is to ski as well as I can," Shiffrin said. "Try to put my training into the races. The biggest bummer is coming down in a race and thinking that I left something on the hill. Im trying to not do that -- ever." No reason to fear that at Beaver Creek. "Shes a phenom," said Bill Marolt, the president and CEO of U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. "She has the athletic ability, the mental tenacity to do what shes done and will continue to do." It wasnt a stellar weekend for Julia Mancuso or the rest of the U.S. skiers. They couldnt gain traction on their home hill. Apart from Shiffrin, no American finished in the top 10. "When things are going fast, it feels easy. When things are going bad, you feel like you want to give up," Mancuso said. "But its definitely one of those sports where one thing can click and you can go from being in last to winning. And Ive done it myself. Ive gone from 50th place in a downhill and won the next one. "Its tough. Ski racings one of those things you have to keep fighting. If youre off by just a little bit, it adds up every gate. But its definitely the right direction." Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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