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. Wholesale Jerseys Online . Still, Milan remained five points behind city rival Inter Milan in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League berth, after Inter beat 10-man Parma 2-0. Meanwhile, Paul Pogba led the way as Juventus stayed on course for a third consecutive title with a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Bologna. Cheap Jerseys For Sale .com) - Delon Wright scored 17 points and No. http://www.cheapjerseysreview.com/ . Browns advice worked. Irving scored 20 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, and Cleveland defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 88-82 Saturday night. Irving made his first shot of the night on a layup a little over three minutes into the game. Cheap Jersey Website . The New York Rangers centre had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators ending a 13-game goal-scoring drought. Best Site Buy China Jerseys ., will experience this week. A year in which the Canadian curling championship has been pushed forward a week to accommodate the Winter Olympics was deemed the perfect chance to stage the event in Montreal for the first time since 1979.FORT WORTH, Texas - Adam Scott has a Texas slam to go with that No. 1 world ranking he will get to keep for now. Scott capped his first week as the top-ranked player with a comeback victory Sunday at Colonial. He made a 7-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a playoff to beat Jason Dufner and become the first player to win all four PGA Tour events played in the Lone Star State. "Thats a pretty good slam to start with," Scott said. "Ill see if I can find some kind of other slam eventually in my career." Only days after officially overtaking the injured Tiger Woods for No. 1, Scott bogeyed four of his first nine holes in the opening round at Hogans Alley. Then midway through the final round, the 2013 Masters champion had a double bogey that dropped him three strokes off the lead. "It was a great week, I mean, no matter what," he said. "Its another experience, learning experience on how golf is, to get off to such a poor start on Thursday, and kind of claw my way back day to day. ... Its so satisfying in so many ways to get it done." Scott looked like a No. 1 player with consecutive birdies in the playoff against Dufner, who won the PGA Championship last year. "Its a good feeling, and maybe some validation," Scott said. Scott and Dufner both parred No. 18 to start the playoff before matching birdies at the 17th hole. Dufner hit his approach pin high on 17 to 4 1/2 feet, but Scott drained a 14-foot birdie before he even putted. Dufner, who made a 25-foot birdie putt on No. 18 in regulation, slid a 40-footer past when he and Scott played the 18th hole for the second time during the playoff. Scott then made his 7-footer for his 11th PGA Tour victory, to go along with 13 international titles, only 5 1/2 weeks after the 33-year-old Australian got married. "Its tough to beat him. Hes a great player. Its tough to concentrate, hes so good looking, too," Dufner said. "I thought maybe I could sneak one in there on 17, but he topped me." Scott and Dufner both shot 4-under 66 to finish att 9 under, the highest winning score at Colonial since 1999.dddddddddddd They started the final round part of a seven-way tie for 11th place, but only two strokes behind a quartet of leaders. Along with $1,152,000 and the traditional plaid jacket for winning Colonial, Scott became the only player to win at Colonial, the Byron Nelson Championship, San Antonio and Houston. There are 13 other players with victories at three of those four, including Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Nick Price. About 30 minutes after Dufner made his long birdie at No. 18 in regulation to get to 9 under, Scott made a closing par after just missing a 31-foot birdie chance. It was just less than an hour later when the two went back to No. 18 to start the playoff. The 11th playoff in Colonial history was the first since 2009, and the longest since Jim Colbert beat Fuzzy Zoeller on the sixth extra hole in 1983. Nicholas Thompson (66) and Freddie Jacobson (67) tied for third at 8 under. David Toms, in the final group, led at 9 under when he made his turn, but made three bogeys over the next five holes. Toms shot a closing 70 to finish at 7 under, a stroke ahead of Jimmy Walker, No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings. With four birdies and a three-putt bogey in his first six holes, Scott was already at 8 under. His only other three-putt at Colonial was from 17 feet at No. 9, dropping him to 6 under. Dufner, who was also second at Colonial two years ago, gave up a stroke when he missed a par putt from less than 3 feet at the 615-yard 11th hole. When his 12-foot birdie chance at the 440-yard 12th slid a half-foot past the cup, Dufner stood momentarily and stared at the ball before tapping in his par. Scott caught up with consecutive birdies on those same holes, pitching to 9 feet at No. 11 before hitting his approach at No. 12 to 4 feet. He got to 9 under with a 39-foot birdie putt at the 453-yard 14th. "I didnt want to let this one slip," Scott said. "So I played hard and I was really happy with where my game was at." ' ' '