Unbeaten run means nothing to me, says Aragones

LEIPZIG, June 13: Going into the World Cup with the longest unbeaten record of any of the 32 participants is irrelevant, Spain coach Luis Aragones said today.

''The unbeaten run means nothing to me now,'' Aragones told a news conference on the eve of his side's opening Group H match against Ukraine in Leipzig.

''What matters to me now is tomorrow's game. ''For me the important thing is that we win, win and win, nothing more.'' Spain's last defeat was when they went down 1-0 to hosts Portugal at Euro 2004, a result that sent them home after the first round.

Although they have not lost since Aragones took charge later that same year, Spain had to take the playoff route to the World Cup after drawing five of their qualification matches.

Spain are notoriously poor starters at World Cups, their 3-1 win over Slovenia in four years ago being their only opening-match ictory in nine attempts.

And despite being one of the powerhouses of European football, they have only progressed beyond the quarter-finals on one occasion when they reached the last four in 1950.

''Historically, we are not one of the big sides,'' said Aragones.

''But we have qualified for the last eight World Cups and that is something some of the big sides have not managed to do.'' Aragones said that opponents Ukraine would be a tough nut to crack even if they were without leading striker Andriy Shevchenko who is a doubt because of a knee injury.

''For me Ukraine are a very important side,'' he said.

''Physically they are very strong and they play very well on the break.

''Everyone talks about Shevchenko, but they have three or four other very good players and they are going to be an extremely hard team to beat.''

REUTERS

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