Luis Aragones' job as Spain coach is not dependent on his team's result against Sweden in Saturday's European championship qualifier at Solna.

Spanish soccer federation president Angel Maria Villar says Aragones has his organization's ``full and absolute support.''

``We have always believed that Luis Aragones is the ideal person to lead the national team,'' Villar was quoted as saying Saturday by sports daily Marca. ``We support him, he is the man in whom the federation has placed its trust and we will be on his side irrespective of the Sweden result.''

Aragones offered to resign last month after Spain's 3-2 loss to Northern Ireland in its previous qualifying game, but Villar persuaded him to stay on.

The defeat in Belfast continued Spain's poor form. Aragones has seen his side suffer two defeats and a draw in its last four matches. Previously, the veteran coach had been unbeaten in 25 games in charge.

Aragones, who has dropped captain Raul Gonzalez for Saturday's game for the first time in 10 years, insisted this week that the team's future is more important than his own.

``If I had to go, I would be annoyed but it wouldn't matter,'' he said. ``For the coach, all that can happen is that he can lose his job, but more is at stake for Spain.''

Sweden has six points from two games, three more than Spain. ___

Former head of French federation ordered before court over accounting probe

PARIS (AP) _ The former head of France's soccer federation has been ordered to appear in criminal court to answer allegations of forgery after an investigation into the group's accounting books.

Claude Simonet, who led the Federation Francaise de Football from 1994 to 2005, and federation vice-president and former treasurer Bernard Bacourt were summoned following a preliminary probe.

French sports daily L'Equipe reported in Saturday's edition that the men were called to answer questions about a 13.9 million euros (US$17.6 million) hole in the federation's ledger for the 2002-2003 season.

Speaking to France-Info radio on Friday, Simonet rejected any allegations of wrongdoing.

``This wasn't embezzlement, it is a matter of a difference of interpretation and point of view,'' he said. ``In our view, we provided accounts that appeared correct to us.''

Simonet said he felt ``in my soul and conscience'' that the books were in order.

``I'm not someone who enriched himself,'' he said.

Simonet is reportedly to appear in criminal court on Nov. 7.