Aragones shines in the shadow of racist taunt

Let's get one thing straight: any discussion of Luis Aragones has to start with that infamous "negro de mierda" scandal around Thierry Henry four years ago. If he had been the England manager, he would have been sacked without hesitation. But if Aragones had been England manager he would probably also have been sacked by now for being too old. He would probably have been sacked for the failure at the last World Cup too. So for a racist with a poor track record in his one major tournament it is something of a miracle that tonight Aragones leads Spain into a semi-final for the first time since 1984.

That calling Henry a "black shit" does not qualify as a sacking offence in Spain says about as much about attitudes to race in that country's football federation as it does about Aragones - neither of which emerged with any credit from the whole episode. Ask Spanish people who know Aragones about the Henry affair and they will shrug and say that Aragones is old-fashioned, that he was born in 1938, in a different era. It is just the way he is. Which is a bit like excusing someone's granddad because of the comments he occasionally makes about foreigners coming over here and taking our jobs.

The defenders of Aragones are right about one thing, though. He is old. The manager of Spain is 70 next month and, showing no signs of slowing down, yesterday he confirmed that he will take over at the Turkish club Fenerbahce next season. Let us just hope that someone has explained to him that the club is situated in Asia. He is very well-travelled within Spain, having managed eight clubs, including Atletico Madrid on four different occasions and two others more than once. Fenerbahce will be his first time outside of Spain, however, and 70 is quite an age to think about a new career direction.

The decision to announce his new appointment one day before the semi-final against Russia tonight bears some superficial similarities to Luiz Felipe Scolari's ill-fated announcement that he was to take over at Chelsea. The timing is odd, but there was no secret about the decision - Vicente del Bosque has already agreed to take over from Aragones next season. The Henry affair means that few outside Spain will miss him, even though he departs with a remarkable record as manager: so far in 52 games he has won 37 and lost just four.

The key thing about Aragones' managerial career is that, for someone who has been in the profession since 1974, he has not won that much. One league title and three Spanish cups does not compare with the records of Sir Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello or Marcello Lippi for instance and Aragones is older than all of them. Admittedly, as an Atletico Madrid icon - as player and manager - he was never going to manage Real Madrid. He succeeded Terry Venables at Barcelona but left the following summer. Euro 2008 is his chance to show that he is not just a nearly man and - a faint hope - that he will not just be remembered outside Spain for the Henry incident.

That took place in 2004 and was captured by a documentary crew. At a training session, Aragones said to Jose Antonio Reyes, in reference to Reyes' Arsenal team-mate Henry, "Tell that black shit: 'I'm better than you'," and then a phrase that, although apparently common in Spain, translated as "I shit on his prostitute mother". It was compounded by greater outrage when it appeared that the Spanish were fairly nonplussed about the incident. Under international pressure, the Spanish football federation eventually fined Aragones 2,000. In England, Henry launched an anti-racism campaign and wrote columns in national newspapers in protest.

For that reason it will be hard to celebrate wholeheartedly a victory for Spain tonight or on Sunday, however much you might admire Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas or Iker Casillas. Aragones has never really shown any remorse for what he said and, for those of us on the outside, that makes him impossible to like.

He was born into Franco's Spain, a Madrileno to the core, in the capital's Hortaleza district. His tastes are pretty simple and traditional. When he was asked recently what he planned to do about Sergio Ramos breaking a curfew to go clubbing, Aragones said that maybe he should try out one of these clubs himself. "But only if they play flamenco music." He was 35 when he scored for Atletico Madrid against Bayern Munich in the 1974 European Cup final that ended 1-1 (they lost the replay 4-0). He played only 11 times for Spain, although he was a prolific striker for Atletico, winning three league titles with the club.

As Spain manager he has survived against the odds. He took over from Inaki Saez after Euro 2004 and at the World Cup two years later went out to France in the second round having won every one of the group games. There was a major row with Raul, then the Spain captain as well as the head of Real Madrid's galacticos, over tactics and his management style, and since then Aragones has phased Raul out. He did not pick him or his Real team-mate Guti for Euro 2008 because he did not believe that the pair had a beneficial effect on the group.