United News of Bangladesh

Jatrabari Jhotika Sangsad returned to a winning run in the Bashundhara Group Senior (First) Division Football League outplaying Uttar Baridhara Club by 3-0 goals at the Bir Shrestha Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka's Kamalapur on Sunday. BFF U-18 Football: Abahani come close to league title beating Mohammedan In the day's match, Nur Alam Siddik netted twice for Jhotika Sangsad in the 19th and 45th minutes while Arbit Ray netted another goal in the added time (90+5 minutes) of the match. In another match, Kashaituly Samaj Kallyan Parishad defeated Nawabpur Krira Chakra by 2-1 goals at the same venue on Sunday afternoon. Sr Division Football: Mohakhali Ekadosh earn comfortable 3-1 victory over Motijheel T&T Ashiqur Rahman and Titas Kasur scored for the winners, one in each half while Sarjan Mia netted the lone goal for the losers in the 2nd half. The day's other match between East End Club and Jatrabari Krira Chakra ended in a goalless draw at the same venue Sunday afternoon. Sr. Division Football: Dhaka Junior SC earn facile victory over Little Friends Club

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are set to meet for the Wimbledon men's championship. Sunday's final at the All England Club is a rematch from last year, when Alcaraz got past Djokovic in five sets. Kate, the Princess of Wales, is expected to be in the Royal Box at Centre Court, a rare public appearance after her cancer diagnosis. The 37-year-old Djokovic is trying to win his eighth Wimbledon title to equal Roger Federer for the most by a man at the grass-court major. A victory by Djokovic would also give him 25 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other player in tennis history. It was only a little more than a month ago that Djokovic had surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee after getting injured during the French Open. The 21-year-old Alcaraz wound up winning the trophy at Roland Garros in June for his third major championship. That made him the youngest man with a Grand Slam title on grass, clay and hard courts. Barbora Krejcikova defeated Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon women's final Saturday.

Spain and England will meet in the European Championship final on Sunday, with much of the focus on a teenage wonderkid and whether one of the world's most underachieving teams can end its decades-long wait for a title. The match is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) in Berlin and is expected to be attended by Prince William, Spain's King Felipe, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Keir Starmer, Britain’s new prime minister. Spain is bidding to win the Euros for a record fourth time, breaking a tie with Germany/West Germany, and for the first time since 2012. The team's new superstar is winger Lamine Yamal, a prodigy who turned 17 on Saturday. Suárez gets stoppage-time goal, Uruguay beats Canada 4-3 in shootout for 3rd place in Copa America England, who lays claim to be the birthplace of soccer, hasn't won a major title since the 1966 World Cup and that was on home soil. This is the team's second straight European Championship final, having lost in a penalty shootout in the final to Italy three years ago. The teams have taken different paths to the final, which will take place at Berlin's Olympiastadion — the 71,000-seat venue built for the 1936 Olympic Games and which hosted the 2006 World Cup final that featured Zinedine Zidane's infamous headbutt. Spain and England to contest Euro 2024 final in a former Nazi stadium where Jesse Owens won gold Spain has won all six of its matches and is widely regarded as the best team at Euro 2024, having seen off Germany and France in the knockout stage. England was unimpressive in the group stage and has shown resilience in coming from behind in all three of its knockout-stage games.

Luis Suárez still has a knack for big plays. The 37-year-old Suárez, Uruguay’s career scoring leader, tied the score two minutes into second-half stoppage time, and Uruguay beat Canada 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw on Saturday night to finish third in the Copa America. Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet saved Ismaël Koné’s weak penalty kick after the shooter's stutter step on Canada’s third attempt, and Alphonso Davies put Canada’s fifth and final kick off the crossbar. Federico Valverde, Rodrigo Bentancur, Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Suárez converted Uruguay’s attempts past goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair while Jonathan David, Moïse Bombito and Mathieu Choinière made their kicks for Canada, which went first in the shootout. “Uruguay is one of the three best teams of this tournament and taking into consideration that the tournament included Central, North and South America, and we finished third, allows us to be optimistic,” Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa said through an interpreter. But Bielsa clearly wasn't happy with his team's effort, and added that he may have misjudged how tired his team was after playing on just two days rest. “The draw was barely deserved,” Bielsa said. Bielsa praised Suárez's "physical skills and mental aptitude" after the match following his 69th international goal on a quick attack following a centering pass from José María Giménez. “It is very well known what he has done throughout his career and having shared this time with him, I believe he is a top-notch player and a great teammate,” Bielsa said of Suárez. Canada, which hired American Jesse Marsch as coach in May, will consider the tournament one of its best performances since winning the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Canadians reached the World Cup for the second time in 2022, the first since 1986. Canada made six changes for its starting semifinal lineup and Uruguay made two. Davies, Canada’s top player, entered in the 62nd minute after leaving the semifinal with a leg injury. Marsch said his players made a “statement” and are well ahead of where he thought they'd be at this time. “The players are disappointed in the way that we gave the match away,” Marsch said. “But I was very positive with them. We have been together for about six weeks and to play against one of the best teams in the world and dominate the match — we were too much for them for most of the match — is pretty good.” He said his team simply gave the ball away too often in the final minutes. “We should have be able to shut that game down,” Marsch said. “But that savviness of how to handle those situations, we need to develop that — and we will.” Bentancur put Uruguay ahead in the eighth minute but Canada built a 2-1 lead on goals by Koné in the 22nd and David in the 80th. St. Clair was given an unusual yellow card as Rochet was preparing for Bombito’s penalty kick, possibly for trying to distract the goalkeeper. The game was played on the same field where Uruguay players entered the stands and fought with Colombia fans following a 1-0 semifinal loss on Wednesday night. This game was much more subdued than the heated semifinal, with an announced attendance of 24,386, compared to more than 70,000 — the overwhelming majority rooting for Colombia — on Wednesday night. Defending champion Argentina and Lionel Messi play Colombia for the title on Sunday night at Miami Gardens, Florida. Argentina and Uruguay are tied for the most Copa titles with 15 each. Uruguay took the lead when Sebastián Cáceres headed a corner kick to Bentancur, who took a touch and spun as Luc de Fougerolles reacted slowly, then kicked the ball over St. Clair for his third international goal and his second of the tournament. Canada tied the score 14 minutes later when Bombito won a header duel with Giménez and the ball popped up toward goal, and Koné‘s bicycle kick went over Rochet for his third international goal. Facundo Pellistri slid the ball past St. Clair in the 23rd minute but was ruled offside. Canada went ahead when Rochet parried Koné’s initial shot and the rebound went to David, who tucked a right-foot shot shot just inside a post for his 28th international goal. David had entered in the 67th minute.

Spain and England will play the European Championship final on Sunday in an imposing stadium with a dark history. Built for the 1936 Olympic Games, Berlin's Olympic stadium still bears the scars of World War II and contains relics from its Nazi past. But the Olympiastadion, as it's known in German, is also associated with the rebirth of a democratic Germany after the war. It hosted matches during the 1974 World Cup in what was then West Germany and again at the 2006 World Cup, 16 years after German reunification. Hitler’s involvement Adolf Hitler was personally involved in the design and construction of the 100,000-seat track-and-field stadium after the Nazis assumed power in 1933, two years after Germany had been awarded the 1936 Games. Initially unenthused by the idea of hosting the Games, the Nazi dictator changed his mind after being convinced of their potential for propaganda. Plans to remodel the existing national stadium were quickly scrapped in favor of constructing a whole new sports complex, the Reich Sports Field, on the same site. Werner March is credited as the architect of Olympiastadion. Euro 2024 final: Spain goes for record 4th title, England looks to end 58-year wait for major trophy Drawing inspiration from the Colosseum in Rome, the stadium was designed to impress. The Olympic Square in front of the main entrance is tapered, with flagpoles and lines of trees on either side heightening the sense of perspective. The idea was to increase the dramatic effect, raising visitors’ expectations and making them feel part of the event. Up to 2,600 workers toiled on the Reich Sports Field at one stage to have it ready in time for the Games, which started Aug. 1, 1936. The Nazi regime's racist ideology deeply influenced the project as construction companies were told to only hire “complying, non-union workers of German citizenship and Aryan race.” A propaganda victory Hitler watched from his stadium-balcony as Jesse Owens, a Black American athlete, won four gold medals to become the star of the Games, dealing a blow to Hitler's notions of racial superiority. However, the Games also delivered a propaganda victory for Nazi Germany. It won more medals than any other country and presented to the world a carefully crafted image of peace and tolerance that Hitler and his associates wanted to show. It was arguably the world’s first major case of sportswashing. Olympiastadion was decked with hundreds of Nazi flags for the Games, and a swastika adorned one of the two towers holding the Olympic rings above the entrance. The swastika was removed in 1945. Members of the Nazi paramilitary SA, commonly known as the Brownshirts, were ordered to stop their attacks against Jews during July and August 1936. The Nazis were already pushing Jewish athletes out of German sports and there were only two whom the Nazis considered half-Jewish who were allowed compete on the German team — fencer Helene Mayer and hockey player Rudi Ball. “It was done to try and silence the critics a little bit,” said Ryan Balmer, a tour guide with degrees in modern history and literature who has lived in Berlin since 2008. The Nazis also used he Reich Sports Field complex after the Olympics. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini visited in 1937, when he was welcomed by thousands of torch-carrying Nazis on the May Field behind the stadium. Up to 800,000 people reportedly took part. Olympiastadion survives WWII Olympiastadion and the Reich Sports Field were damaged in the war, though the stadium escaped relatively unscathed compared to the devastation wrought by Allied bombers in more central areas of Berlin. Many surviving buildings were reused with their Nazi iconography removed. Olympiastadion fell in the British sector after the city was divided between the four victorious powers — the Soviet Union, the U.S., France and Britain. The British reopened the stadium in 1946 and maintained their military headquarters in the former Reich Sports Field until 1994. Spain phenom Lamine Yamal has electrified Euro 2024. In hometown, family and friends not surprised Little was done to Olympiastadion after the war. It and the former the Reich Sports Field were given protected status in 1966, when Hitler's balcony was shortened by 1 meter. The biggest renovations were made before Germany's 2006 World Cup, when the stadium was crowned with a roof. The stadium today There are no attempts to hide the stadium’s Nazi past — modern-day Germany is adamant that the atrocities of the Nazi era should not be forgotten. Information signs in English and German are placed around the stadium to inform visitors about the site’s history. While the swastikas have been removed, some Nazi relics remain. An eagle adorns a pillar beside what is now the training ground of Hertha Berlin, which plays its home games in the stadium. The old bell from the Bell Tower still displays a Nazi eagle and Olympic rings, but the swastika has been partially covered. In a sign of Germany's post-war rehabilitation, a large conference room in the stadium and a road running along the sports field's southern perimeter have been named after Owens. Visitors have mixed feelings about the stadium, which has a capacity of 71,000 during the European Championship. Many fans who attend matches at Olympiastadion are preoccupied with their respective teams' fortunes and pay little attention to the information signs. Balmer said the stadium could use "a more prominent reminder of how and why places like this were built.” Marian Wajselfisz, a Holocaust survivor who co-founded Jewish soccer club Makkabi Berlin in 1970, also rued that fans visiting the stadium — including Sunday’s final — are not made more aware of Nazi atrocities against Jews. “It's a constant reminder of 1936 and the Olympics,” he said.

Get caught up at Wimbledon with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about how to watch the grass-court Grand Slam tennis tournament, what the betting odds are, what the schedule is and more: How to watch Wimbledon on TV — In the U.S.: Tennis Channel, ESPN. — Other countries are listed here. Betting favorites for Wimbledon Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is a slight favorite in the men’s final against Novak Djokovic on Sunday, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in five sets a year ago for the title at the All England Club, is listed at -145. Djokovic is at +120. Who plays in the Wimbledon men's final on Sunday?Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic will meet in a rematch of the 2023 men’s final at the All England Club. Alcaraz beat Djokovic in five sets a year ago. On Sunday, Alcaraz will be bidding for his fourth Grand Slam title at age 21. Djokovic, who is 37, is seeking an eighth Wimbledon championship to tie Roger Federer for the men's record. A Djokovic victory also would give him his 25th Grand Slam singles trophy overall, which would break a tie with Margaret Court for the most by anyone in the history of tennis. Djokovic had knee surgery last month. What happened in the Wimbledon women's final on Saturday?No. 31 seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic held on to defeat No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to win her first singles championship at Wimbledon and second at a major tournament. Krejcikova, who is 28, also won the 2021 French Open. Paolini is the first woman to lose in the finals at Roland Garros and the All England Club since Venus Williams in 2002. Diede de Groot claimed her 15th consecutive Grand Slam singles title by winning the women’s wheelchair final. The Wimbledon schedule — Sunday: Men’s Singles Final

The Olympic Day Run, a regular global event of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the occasion of its founding anniversary, ceremonially observed in the capital and seven divisional headquarters of the country on Saturday. President of Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed inaugurated Olympic Day Run'2024 rally at the Bangladesh Shisu Academy premises in Dhaka. The BOA president hoisted the Bangladesh national flag while its Secretary General Syed Shaheed Reza hoisted the Olympic flag, BOA Deputy Secretary General and Convenor of the Olympic Day Organizing Committee Ashiqur Rahman Miku hoisted the BOA flag in the inaugural ceremony. The colourful rally, which started from Bangladesh Shisu  Academy ended at the Sheikh Russel Rollar Skating Complex at the Bangabandhu National Stadium premises after parading through Sikkha Bhaban, Bangladesh Secretariat and Zero point. A good number of sportsmen, sports organisers, sports lovers from different sports federations, associations, clubs, BKSP, Army, Navy, Air Force, BGB,  Police, Ansar, school and college students participated in the day's Olympic Day run rally. After the rally, certificates were distributed among the participants.

Dhaka Abahani Limited came close to clinching the BFF Under-18 Football League's 2023-24 title, outplaying their traditional rivals, Dhaka Mohammedan SC, by 3-1 goals at the Armed Police Battalion field in Dhaka's Uttara on Saturday. Sr Division Football: Mohakhali Ekadosh earn comfortable 3-1 victory over Motijheel T&T With the day's well-deserved victory, the sky-blue Dhanmondi outfit Abahani almost assured the league crown, securing a full 18 points from their sixth consecutive win. After the day's 6th round matches, Fortis FC secured 13 points, BPL champions Bashundhara Kings nine points, Police FC eight points, and Mohammedan SC six points. Abahani Ltd, which made their title mission easier by beating Bashundhara Kings by 2-1 goals last Wednesday, now needed just a draw in their remaining two matches to be the champions. Sr. Division Football: Dhaka Junior SC earn facile victory over Little Friends Club Earlier, Dhaka Abahani beat Fortis FC 2-0, Sheikh Jamal DC 2-1, Brothers Union 2-0, and Rahmathanj MFS 4-1, apart from beating the Bashundhara Kings by 2-1 goals. In the day's vital match, Samuel Raksam, Yeasin Arafat, and Milon Hossain scored one each for Abahani, which dominated the first half 2-0. Sazid Ahmed netted the face-saving goal for the traditional black and white Mohammedan in the second half. In the day's other match, the season's treble winners, Bashundhara Kings, suffered their third defeat in the league, losing to Sheikh Russel KC by 1-0 at their home venue--practice ground of Bashundhara Kings Arena, on Saturday afternoon. Jomou scored the match winning goal for Sheikh Russel KC in the 49th minute. BFF U-18 Football: Abahani maintain all-win run beating holders Bashundhara Kings 2-1 The day's other match between Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Brothers Union Club ended in a 1-1 draw at the Mohammadpur Physical Education College ground on Saturday. Mohin put Sheikh Jamal DC ahead in the 26th minute, while Onik neutralised the margin in the added time of the first half (45+2 minutes).

Bangladesh Cricket's high-performance unit departed for Australia on Saturday. This marks the first tour of Australia by a Bangladeshi cricket team in over 15 years. National team selector Hanan Sarkar is accompanying the team. He expressed confidence that the tour will be highly beneficial for the young cricketers, providing valuable learning experiences. In this tour, Bangladesh HP will face Pakistan Shaheens in both four-day matches and will play against Pakistan Shaheens and the Northern Territory team in the one-dayers. BCB announces high-performance team for extended Australia tour The first four-day match starts on July 19th, followed by the second on July 26th. The one-dayers are scheduled for August 1st and 6th. Bangladesh's T20 matches will take place on August 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17, with the semi-finals and final on August 18. The BCB has announced separate squads for this tour, comprising a total of 25 cricketers. Some of these players have already gained experience representing the national team.   HP squads for the Australia tour:  Players in All Three Teams: Parvez Hossain Emon, Ariful Islam, Rakibul Hasan, Mukidul Islam, Ripon Mondol, and Maruf Mridha. Player in Four Day and One Day Teams Only: Sk Peavez Rahman Jibon. Players in One Day and T20 Teams Only: Tanzid Hasan, Jisan Alam, Afif Hossain (captain of one-day team), Shamim Hossain, Akbar Ali (captain of T20 team, vice-captain of one-day team), Wasi Siddique, Abu Haider Rony, and Mahfusur Rahman Rabbi (vice-captain of T20 team). Players Only in the Four-Day Team: Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy (Captain), Amite Hasan, Sahadat Hossain Dipu (Vice Captain), Mahidul Islam Ankon, Aich Mollah, Rezaur Rahman Raja, and Hasan Murad.   Player Only in T20 Team: Allis Islam

Spain and England meet in the final of the European Championship on Sunday. Spain is seeking a record fourth title at the Euros to break a tie with Germany/West Germany, while England is bidding for a first major trophy in men's soccer since the 1966 World Cup. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. local (1900 GMT) in Berlin. Here’s what to know about the match: Match facts — Spain will start as the favorite after winning all six of its matches at Euro 2024 and being widely regarded as the best team at the tournament. Winning the title would continue a strong period of success for Spanish national teams, with the men having captured the UEFA Nations League in June last year and the women following that up by winning the World Cup two months later. — Lamine Yamal is Spain's new star having set up three goals before the semifinals, where he scored a spectacular long-range strike in the victory over France — all at the age of 16. He turned 17 on Saturday, the day before the final. It is a breakthrough major tournament for Yamal, much like it was for a 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé at the 2018 World Cup and a 17-year-old Pelé at the 1958 World Cup. — Spain last appeared in a final at a major tournament in 2012, when the team won the third of its European Championship titles by beating Italy 4-0. England played in the final of Euro 2020, which was played in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, and lost in a penalty shootout to Italy. — England has shown resilience by coming from behind in all three of its knockout-stage matches at Euro 2024. Jude Bellingham scored an equalizer from an overhead kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time in the extra-time win over Slovakia in the last 16, Bukayo Saka equalized in the 80th minute against Switzerland in the quarterfinals before England won a penalty shootout, and substitute Ollie Watkins scored a winner almost exactly on 90 minutes against the Netherlands in the semifinals. — England coach Gareth Southgate is often criticized for his in-game management but he has changed the culture inside the squad and is regularly getting the team deep at major tournaments. In Southgate's tenure that started in 2016, England has reached the World Cup semifinals in 2018 and now back-to-back European Championship finals.