Mixed reaction to coach's Henry jibe

Luis Aragones has received the support of much of Spain's media, with sports daily As the only newspaper to criticise the national team coach for the "obscene" language he used in reference to Thierry Henry.

Aragones landed himself in trouble when microphones picked up the coach trying to convince striker Jose Antonio Reyes he was a better player than "that black shit", apparently referring to Reyes's Arsenal colleague Henry.

Aragones, interviewed later by Radio Marca, insisted the comments were in no way racist. The 66-year-old did not deny that his comments were made in reference to Henry.

That was accepted by all Spanish newspapers on Thursday but As was nevertheless strident in its criticism of the coach.

"Luis used inappropriate words, more inappropriate still when he was in front of millions of eyes and ears hidden behind the television cameras," As editor Alfredo Relano wrote.

"I'm aware that Luis is not a racist...but you cannot speak as he spoke. I'm sure he chose his words without any wish to offend...but his obscene, outdated language gives him, and us, a problem.

"A national team coach has a representative role and he has to know this. He must also know that speaking like this is out of order, whether it is in private or in public, whether the cameras are present or not."

Other newspapers came directly to the coach's defence.

"It goes without saying that Aragones's intention was not to bring racist overtones to the matter," Spain's bestselling newspaper Marca wrote.

"The coach expressed himself in his own way, with vehemence, to get the message through loud and clear to Reyes."

Sport newspaper stressed that the tone of the comments was humorous.

"Out of context, the comment might sound aggressive but everyone understood immediately the tone of humour that Aragones wanted to use to motivate the player," Sport said.

The country's two leading daily newspapers made no comment on the affair.

El Pais relegated the story to a few lines, while El Mundo had a picture of Aragones talking to Reyes on its front page but declined to make any comment.