United News of Bangladesh

After nearly 12 years playing for European giants and a short stint in Saudi Arabia, Neymar has made his return to professional football in Brazil. The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star came off the bench at the start of the second half for his boyhood club Santos during their Campeonato Paulista match against Botafogo SP on Wednesday at Estádio Vila Belmiro. Santos led 1-0 when Neymar entered the game, but a second-half equalizer saw the match end in a 1-1 draw. "I love Santos. I can’t describe what I felt stepping onto this pitch again," Neymar said post-match. Named the game's best player, he admitted he was not yet at peak fitness but took positives from his first match in over three months. "I need minutes, more games. I'm not at 100 percent yet, but I’ll improve in four or five matches," he added. Real Madrid's woes on defence compounded by new Alaba injury Neymar, who turned 33 on Wednesday, rejoined Santos on January 31 with a six-month contract that the club hopes to extend through the 2026 World Cup. He previously won six titles with Santos, including the 2011 Copa Libertadores. Once regarded as one of the world’s best players, Neymar left Santos for Barcelona in 2013 before making a record-breaking €222 million ($262 million) transfer to PSG in 2017. In 2023, he moved to Saudi club Al-Hilal but suffered an ACL injury while playing for Brazil in a World Cup qualifier. Despite his absence, Al-Hilal won the Saudi league, but the club omitted him from their squad for the second half of the season. With no place in manager Jorge Jesus' plans, speculation of Neymar’s return to Santos gained momentum before his comeback. His contract with Al-Hilal, reportedly one of the most lucrative in football, was due to expire after the FIFA Club World Cup in July. Sources: Agencies

Matsushima Sumaya, a member of Bangladesh’s SAFF-winning women’s national football team, lodged a General Diary (GD) at Motijheel Police Station in the capital on Wednesday after she reportedly received death and rape threats in recent days. Media Manager of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) Khaled Mahmud Nowmee was present at the time. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Sumaya expressed her distress: “Over the past few days, I have received countless death and rape threats—words that have shattered me in ways I never imagined.” Her statement comes amid an ongoing dispute between national team players and the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) over the head coach Peter Butler. Eighteen out of 30 national team players, including Sumaya, have boycotted the training camp, demanding Butler’s removal. National women’s booters threatened to boycott all football activities and quit the national camp unless the BFF removed head coach Peter Butler. They also threatened to retire if their demands were not met. Soon after her remark, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) strongly condemned the threats and harassment targeting Sumaya. The BFF said they asked the authorities concerned to take immediate and appropriate action against those responsible. Meanwhile, the BFF, which formed a seven-member probe committee last Thursday to investigate the complaints of national women’s footballers against their British coach Peter Butler, is scheduled to submit its report to the BFF President by Thursday (6 February).  

Matsushima Sumaya, a member of Bangladesh’s SAFF-winning women’s national football team, has claimed she received numerous death and rape threats in recent days. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Sumaya expressed her distress, stating, “Over the past few days, I have received countless death and rape threats—words that have shattered me in ways I never imagined.” She further shared her emotional turmoil, saying, “I don’t know how long it will take for me to heal from this trauma, but I do know that no one should have to go through this just for following their dreams.” Reflecting on her sacrifices for football, Sumaya wrote, “Ever since I chose this path, my dream was to inspire young students whose parents only wanted them to focus on studies. I wanted to show that passion and dedication can break barriers. But today, I sit here with regret—regret for sacrificing my education, my family, my Eids, all to serve a country that doesn’t know how to appreciate our struggles.” Her statement comes amid an ongoing dispute between national team players and the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) over the reinstatement of head coach Peter Butler. Eighteen out of 30 national team players, including Sumaya, have boycotted the training camp, demanding Butler’s removal. Defender of first SAFF winning Bangladesh Women’s team Ankhi Khatun set to marry her fan The English coach, who led the team during their SAFF Women’s Championship title defence in Nepal last year, has faced allegations of misconduct. In a three-page statement issued before a press conference at the BFF House on Thursday, senior players, including Sabina Khatun and Sanjida Akhter, accused Butler of “questioning the players’ personal lives, misbehaving with them, and dividing the team.” “We won’t train under Peter Butler in the camp until the BFF president takes necessary steps to resolve the issue,” the statement read. The players also highlighted the uncertainty regarding their status, noting that their contracts were not renewed after October. “As the BFF did not renew our contracts after October, they have no legal grounds to take action against us. Yet, if they consider punishing us and remain adamant about keeping Butler, we will resign together,” the letter added.

Defender of the first SAFF winning Bangladesh National Women’s team Ankhi Khatun from Sirajganj District has decided to marry her fan Shariful Islam Tinku of Rajshahi District. Ankhi Khatun, who played important role in Bangladesh’s maiden title in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship in 2022, suddenly left the BFF training camp in 2023, decided to marry Rinku on February 7 at her village resident at Shahzadpur in Sirajganj. Rinku worked as tennis coach in a Chinese Academy, became a fan of Ankhi witnessing her brilliant performance and he communicated with Ankhi through  social media. Fed Cup Football: Holders Bashundhara Kings emerge group champions to reach qualifiers  Later, Rinku came home in 2022 to witness her football matches as well as to meet her, which finally turned into love and marriage. Ankhi, who also visited Chinese city of Shanghai to meet Rinku, will go there again and she wants to continue playing football in future.

Real Madrid's problems on defence have been compounded by a muscle injury to David Alaba. Alaba has “an adductor injury in his left leg," the club said on Tuesday. Spanish media said Alaba was expected to be out for two to three weeks, meaning he is likely to miss key matches against Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Saturday and Manchester City in the Champions League next week. Alaba returned to action only last month after being sidelined for more than a year because of a knee injury. His latest injury comes a day after the club said fellow central defender Antonio Rüdiger has a right leg muscle injury that is also expected to keep him sidelined for up to three weeks. UFC fighter denies being Nazi after pro-Hitler remarks backlash Coach Carlo Ancelotti already can't count on central defender Éder Militão and right back Dani Carvajal because of injuries. Youngster Raúl Asencio is the only central defender fit and available. Ancelotti has been improvising midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni in the middle of the defence.

Cumilla and Lakshmipur Districts won their respective matches of Chattogram Zone in the Youth Festival UCB-BFF U-15 National Football League’2025 beating their rivals that began on Monday at the Shaheed Dhirendranath Dutta Stadium in Cumilla. Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of Cumilla M Amirul Kaiser inaugurated the Chattogram zonal match as the chief guest. On the opening day, hosts Cumilla beat Chandpur by 2-1 goals while Lakshmipur beat Brahmanbaria by 4-2 goals.

Robert Lewandowski scored a second-half winner as Barcelona beat Alaves 1-0 on Sunday to move within four points of rival Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish league. Madrid lost 1-0 at Espanyol on Saturday after a run of 10 victories in its last 11 matches in all competitions. Third-placed Barcelona is three points behind second-placed Atletico Madrid, which ended a two-match winless streak in the league with a 2-0 victory against Mallorca on Saturday. “We knew we had to win this match,” Lewandowski said. “We needed the victory. We had lost too many points in the league already.” It was the fourth goal in as many matches for Lewandowski across all competitions, and his seventh in the last eight games. The Poland striker scored from close range after a volley by Lamine Yamal from inside the area deflected off a defender. It was an unusually low-scoring game for Barcelona, which had claimed 14 goals in its last three matches — including a 7-1 rout of Valencia in the league. “It's not every time that we will be able to score three, four or five goals in a game,” Lewandowski said. “We had to be patient and in the end we did what we had to do, which was to score one more goal than our opponent.” Alaves, which ended with no attempts on target, stayed inside the relegation zone with the loss. It has won only one of its last 11 matches in all competitions. Head injuries for Gavi and Conechny Barcelona midfielder Gavi and Alaves forward Tomás Conechny had to be substituted in the first half after a collision of heads while going for the ball about 10 minutes into the match at Montjuic stadium. Gavi left the field on his own but Conechny was carried off on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital for further tests. There was no immediate update about his condition.

Real Madrid’s winning run ended in stunning fashion after losing at relegation-threatened Espanyol 1-0 on Saturday in La Liga. Defender Carlos Romero's late goal beat the La Liga leader and moved Espanyol out of the bottom three. Espanyol inched two points clear of the drop zone, while Madrid's lead was cut to one point after Atletico Madrid beat Mallorca 2-0 earlier. Madrid, which found out on Friday that it will face Manchester City in the Champions League knockout playoff round, travelled to Espanyol with 10 victories in its last 11 matches in all competitions. It dominated and Vinícius Júnior thought he gave the visitors the lead in the 21st minute but it was ruled out due to a foul by Kylian Mbappé on Espanyol midfielder Pol Lozano. US striker Ricardo Pepi is set to miss 'a long time' with knee injury Madrid was made to pay for its missed opportunities five minutes from time when Romero volleyed in Omar El Hilali’s cross, much to the home fans’ raucous — and surprised — delight. Back to winning ways Atletico went into its match against seventh-placed Mallorca having lost both of its last two league matches and with only two wins in its last four games after a run of 15 consecutive victories. It took the lead in the 26th minute when Giuliano Simeone sprinted down the right before rolling the ball across the edge of the area for Samuel Lino to fire into the bottom right corner. Rodrigo Riquelme hit the crossbar with a free kick two minutes from time and provided the through ball for substitute Antoine Griezmann to run onto and delightfully chip the goalkeeper and seal the match in stoppages. Fifth-placed Villarreal crushed bottom club Real Valladolid 5-1 and Getafe drew with Sevilla 0-0.

PSV Eindhoven striker Ricardo Pepi will be out of action for “a long time,” coach Peter Bosz said Friday after the United States international sustained a knee injury in a midweek win over Liverpool in the Champions League. The 22-year-old Pepi scored the winning goal — moments before halftime — in the 3-2 victory but was substituted off in the 76th minute. Neymar confirms return to Brazil: 'Only Santos can give me the love I need' Pepi has scored 17 goals in 28 games in all competitions this season and reportedly has drawn interest from Premier League club West Ham. Bosz told a news conference that the team would look for a replacement before the winter transfer window closes. He did not specify how many months Pepi would miss, saying that it's “not a matter of weeks.” Man United and Tottenham reach Europa League round of 16. Mourinho’s Fenerbahce into playoffs The Texan played for FC Dallas before transferring to Bundesliga club Augsburg in January 2022. PSV leads the Eredivisie by four points from Ajax entering the weekend. The team was drawn Friday to face Juventus in a two-leg playoff for a spot in the Champions League round of 16.  

Neymar has confirmed he will sign what is expected to be a short-term contract with his boyhood club, Santos, as the Brazil striker aims to recharge his career ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The 32-year-old Neymar said Thursday that he's returning to the Sao Paulo club, and local media reported that the deal will extend only to June 30. "Only Santos can give me the love that I need to prepare for the challenges I have in the next few years. All of you, no matter who you support, know well what I am talking about,” Neymar said on his social media channels. “I hope you all follow me in this new phase of my life.” Santos used its social media channels to respond Neymar’s video: “Your home awaits. Your people awaits." Neymar left Santos nearly 12 years ago to join Barcelona. The striker's return follows the termination of his contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal. Neymar had returned in October from an ACL injury sustained while playing for Brazil only months after he joined Al-Hilal. He played only seven matches and scored once for the Saudi team. Neymar also left Paris Saint-Germain under criticism from fans, who accused him of not caring enough about his fitness. In 2017, his exit at Barcelona was also frustrating for club supporters, who hoped he could help Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez win more trophies. A Santos official told The Associated Press that Neymar is expected to arrive at Sao Paulo's international airport at 9 a.m. on Friday. He will then board a helicopter to go to the club's Vila Belmiro Stadium. After he signs his contract, he will be reintroduced to fans during the evening. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to discuss the matter publicly. Neymar has already played 225 matches with Santos. He scored 138 goals for the club, many of which key for the six titles he won at the Brazilian giant, which was relegated in 2023 and returned to the country's top division last year. Neymar became the most expensive player in soccer history when he transferred from Barcelona to PSG for 222 million euros (then $262 million) in 2017. Neymar’s most recent match was played in November. Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus had repeatedly cast doubts about the striker’s form to play. Neymar returns to Brazilian club Santos after termination of contract in Saudi Arabia Neymar left the Saudi Arabian league after playing just seven games in 17 months following his big-money move to the oil-rich kingdom. The Brazilian’s contract was due to expire after this year’s FIFA Club World Cup, which will be played between June 15 and July 13 in the United States. The striker joined the Saudi club from PSG in August 2023 for 90 million euros ($94 million). His salary was reportedly one of the biggest in world soccer as well. Neymar, Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer with 79 goals in 125 matches, also said he is focused on getting more playing time so he can prepare for the World Cup in North America next year in what could be his last shot at winning the tournament.