Spanish coach rejects claims

Luis Aragones, the Spanish national coach, risked further condemnation last night ahead of the England match after a wholly inadequate attempt to repair the damage caused by his description of Thierry Henry as a "Black Shit".

In remarkable scenes at Real Madrid's training ground, Aragones railed against allegations of racism before turning on his inquisitors in the English media.

"You are kids compared to me. You don't know anything whereas I am nearly 70," he said. "I know who are the racists. I remember the colonies. I have a lot of black friends and I have fed black people at my table, in my house. They have explained to me that the English were after them in the colonies.

"I repeat: I have a lot of black friends and I am a citizen of the world. In my job I have been to many countries, I always respect different cultures and I have many friends from different places. I cannot understand the reaction to what I said."

England's players wore T-shirts bearing anti-racism slogans at their final training session ahead of tonight's game.

Meanwhile, Aragones angrily declared he had no reason to apologise personally to Henry after being captured on television making his offensive remark about the Arsenal striker while remonstrating with Jose Antonio Reyes during a practice match last month.

"I have said sorry in public. We have got friends in common and the boy (Henry) doesn't want me to say sorry again. He knows exactly what it is to motivate a player and that my comments were taken out of context. He has spoken with Reyes in England and he knows that I respect him."

Aragones may have been heavily criticised but it has been conspicuous here that the Spanish media appear bemused by the furore it has caused. Most of their criticism has been directed towards the English media and the presenter of TVE, the state channel, told his viewers last night: "The British press have looked to cause a storm, to heat up the game. They were determined to get Aragones - and they've succeeded."

It was an argument that Aragones was happy to adopt for his own benefit. "I am not a racist but you will write what you want," he told the English contingent at a stormy press conference. "You are like wolves after a deer.

"For me, racism is a matter of conscience and my conscience is clear. If your conscience is not clear then you have to consider whether you are racist of not. I am not and lots of black people have told me that. What about you?" One English reporter replied: "Mine is clear." Aragones said: "I doubt it."