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.

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.

Berlin  - German international Arne Friedrich has extended his contract with Hertha Berlin by a further three years until 2011, the German Bundesliga club confirmed Friday.

The 29-year-old defender, whose current contract was due to run out at the end of the season, will see the deal automatically extended by another year if he manages to make at least 25 appearances in the final year of the contract.

London, December 19 : Ace footballer Robinho will no longer need the bus pass his cheeky team-mates have given him, for he has purchased a 200mph Lamborghini.

Man City stars joined forces to get the 590-pound annual pass after they read that Robinho went shopping on public transport.

However, the 24-year-old bought a brand-new Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4.

According to reports, the white colour motor cost him 170,000 pounds.

Robinho spent six pounds on taking his girlfriend shopping by bus last month.

London - New Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce said Friday that he is optimistic of steering the Premier League club away from the relegation zone, although he warned success will not come overnight.

Blackburn have lost their last six games and failed to win any of the five before that. They lie second from bottom of the table, five points adrift of Sunderland and Manchester City, with three further teams a point ahead.

"People say that we need two wins to get out of it but that assumes the teams above you all lose. It will take a long time, perhaps six games, to catch up with the rest," Allardyce told reporters.

London - Former West Ham United chairman Eggert Magnusson is suing club owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson over the terms of his exit from Upton Park last year, it has emerged.

Documents filed at the Reykjavik Municipal Court earlier this week show that Magnusson is demanding a pay-off of 200 million Iceland krona (1.65 million dollars).

Gudmundsson is looking to sell the club after losing 250 million pounds (377 million dollars) when his Landsbanki bank in Iceland collapsed.

Magnusson became chairman of West Ham in November 2006, when he bought the club with Gudmundsson through WH Holding Ltd, but was relieved of his duties a year later when Gudmundsson added his five per cent stake to his controlling interest.