Hamburg  - If expectations were weighing heavily on the shoulders of Luis Aragones, he was not showing it. Stepping before the assembled press on the eve of the European Championship final, the coach of Spain knew it was time his country delivered.

Spain had reached the Euro 2008 final undefeated, but failure had defined the country's national football team for decades.

Not since winning the 1964 European title had Spain won a major tournament, and the national team had suffered defeat to France in the 1984 European final, the last time it had gone so far.

Now Aragones and Spain were up against the tournament team par excellence: Germany, winners of three World Cups and three European Championships.

Hamburg  - Although Tiger Woods took yet another step towards immortality by winning his 14th major, it was Irishman Pedraig Harrington who grabbed the headlines when he became the first European to win the PGA Championship in 78 years.

Harrington added the Open to take two of the four majors on offer in 2008, but could do little to prevent Europe from relinquishing their hold on the Ryder Cup with a 16.5 to
11.5 defeat against the US at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

Trevor Immelman managed to beat Tiger Woods by three shots in The Masters played at Augusta in April to win the first major on offer for the year.

Hamburg  - Honda's decision to quit Formula One has come as a shock and signalled that the world economic crisis has hit the world of sports for good.

The troubled carmakers are not only aiming to cut costs in their motorsport engagement, but like others are also scaling down their general sports involvement and endorsements amid the grim realities.

Even the International Olympic Committee is cautious. The IOC has postponed the bidding process for the US television rights of the 2014 and 2016, hoping for a more favourable economic climate next year.

The IOC makes almost 1 billion dollars from Olympic TV rights.

Los Angeles  - The Boston Celtics are NBA champions again. The United States is Olympic champions again.

It took a while, but 2008 saw the basketball world finally returned to its axis.

London, December 20: A famous Premier League footballer is allegedly being blackmailed by a group of gangsters, who claim to have footage of him being sexually pleasured by a mystery blonde.

The blackmailers are demanding 100,000 pounds in cash for the clip, reports British tabloid The Sun.

The 2min 13sec clip reportedly shows the flamboyant millionaire footballer reclining on a couch, still in his underwear and socks, as the girl performs a sex act on him.

It also reveals him casually sending a text on his mobile phone, which the group claimed he was sending to his wife.

Kiev - The Ukrainian government has dismissed speculation that the country may not be in a position to co-host Euro 2012 alongside Poland.

"We will be ready in 2012, I have no doubt about it," Yuri Pavlenko, Ukraine's minister for sport, youth and family, was quoted Friday by the Interfax news agency as saying in Kiev.

Pavlenko said that Kiev's Olympic stadium would be finished on time and be ready to host the final despite construction hold-ups of more than a year.

Last month UEFA expressed doubts about Ukraine's ability to host the event due to organizational problems and internal political conflicts.