Spain coach Luis Aragones has said he has no intention of stepping down following criticism for his side's 2-0 loss to Sweden on Saturday. The loss was the team's second Euro 2008 qualifying defeat in a row, but the 68-year-old coach has refused to consider resigning. "I feel strong enough to carry on," he was quoted as saying by Spanish daily Marca. "I'm not going to make any move to resign. Whether I continue or not will depend on the Federation and the press." Aragones' side was left in fifth place in Group F after the defeat with only three points from three games. While he may have been willing to step down previously, this time he has insisted he will stay the course.
Spain were handed their second successive defeat "When you lose two important games things are obviously difficult, but I've spent a long time in football and dealt with situations like this before," Aragones said. Aragones originally offered to resign after the humiliating 3-2 defeat away to Northern Ireland; however at the time the federation rejected his offer. The president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Angel Maria Villar has once again given support to Aragones. "We're on the side of the coach and we support all his work. He has had a splendid career," Villar said according BBC Sport. "He will keep working to take the team to the European Championship finals in Austria and Switzerland." The loss marks the first time in 15 years that Spain were defeated twice successively in a qualifying match. The previous time was the 1992 European championship. Before the recent Spanish failings, the team had gone 25 games undefeated under Aragones.
