United News of Bangladesh

Hosts Bangladesh made a frustrating start in the two-match FIFA Tier-1 International Friendly series, losing to the Maldives in the first match at the floodlight Bashundhara Kings Arena in the capital on Wednesday evening. With the day's well-deserved victory, the Maldives team not only regained their rhythm after their absence in international football for one year but also took sweet revenge for their 1-2 goal defeat against Bangladesh at the same venue in October last year. The Maldives team, FIFA ranked 163rd, now enjoyed an upper hand against FIFA ranked 186th Bangladesh after 19th international matches on Wednesday with seven wins, six draws, and six defeats. The second and last match between two teams will be held on Saturday (November 16) at the same venue. In the day's match, midfielder Ali Fasir scored the match-winning goal for the Maldives in the 18th minute by a well-judged header from close, off a free kick of Hamza Mohammad from the right wing (1-0). Bangladesh was too unlucky in the day's match, as they did everything except score a goal. Most of the Bangladesh attempts were foiled due to the shakiness of the forwards as well as the confident defence line-up of the Maldives. In the day's match, midfielder Ali Fasir put the Maldives ahead in the 18th minute by a well-judged header from close, off a Hamza Mohammad free kick from the right wing (1-0). Bangladesh came close to levelling the margin in the following minute, but they failed to fire target from goalmouth melee despite the repeated attempts. In the 43rd minute, a long-distance shot by Sohel Rana missed target, narrowly hitting the side post. Forward Rakib Hossain saved Bangladesh from conceding another goal in the 62nd minute, foiling a good Maldivian attempt from the danger zone in a one-to-one situation. Mohammad Hridoy and Isa Faysal of Bangladesh and Ahmed Aiham of the Maldives were cautioned with yellow cards in the match. Newly elected BFF President Tabith Awal, Sr Vice President Imrul Hasan, vice presidents, and some EC members gathered in the stadium to witness the match along with former captain of Bangladesh Cricket team Habibul Bashar Sumon, but they were frustrated in their first official appearances today (Wednesday).

Australia hosts Saudi Arabia in a crucial World Cup qualifier at Melbourne on Thursday while Japan and South Korea can take a big step towards North America in 2026 when the third round of Asian qualifying reaches the halfway stage. With only the top two teams from each of the three groups of six progressing automatically to the expanded 48-team tournament, Australia and Saudi Arabia both have only five points from four Group C games, five behind leaders Japan. The sputtering form of the two teams has already resulted in coaching changes since the third round began. Graham Arnold stepped down as Socceroos head coach in September and was replaced by Tony Popovic while Saudi Arabia fired Roberto Mancini in October after a 0-0 draw with Bahrain in Jeddah. Renard returns to Riyadh Herve Renard is back in Riyadh to take over the Saudi team for a second spell. “I believe we can qualify; otherwise, I wouldn’t be here,” Renard, who left Riyadh in March 2023 to take over the French women’s national team, told local media. “I know the players well. We’re not in an ideal situation, but it’s far from hopeless. We still have six games remaining, four of them away.” Renard led Saudi Arabia to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, topping a qualification group above Japan and Australia. It then defeated eventual champion Argentina 2-1 in its opening game in Qatar before losing its next two games and finishing last in its group, failing to qualify for the knockout rounds. “Many of these players were part of the squad that qualified for the 2022 World Cup,” Renard said. “They must draw on that experience, keep their spirit high, and do everything necessary to reach the 2026 World Cup.” Saudi Arabia is hoping that a coaching change can produce the same upturn in results that Popovic delivered for Australia in his first two games in October, with a win over China at home followed by a 1-1 draw in Japan. Japan favored in two away matches in Indonesia, China Those were the first points that Japan, which has appeared in every World Cup since 1998, dropped in qualification. The Samurai Blue is expected to beat Indonesia despite playing in front of an expected 78,000 fans in Jakarta, before traveling to China. “If you look at the FIFA rankings and the games in the World Cup qualifiers so far, you might think that the advantage is with Japan,” said coach Hajime Moriyasu. “But we are playing both games away and I think it will be tough.” South Korea to be cautious with Son Heung-min In Group B, leaders South Korea has recovered from a disappointing opening-game draw with the Palestinian team to win three consecutive games. Victory in Kuwait will see the South Koreans go five or six points clear of third place. Captain and star Son Heung-min missed the victories over Jordan and Iraq due to a hamstring injury and has been short of minutes for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. “At this point, I have absolutely zero plans to push him hard,” South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo said. “I will figure out ways to use him efficiently. As soon as he joins the team, I will sit down with him and discuss his playing time. It’s really important for us to see a healthy version of Son Heung-min.” Iraq and Jordan are level in second place in Group B — three points behind — and meet in Basra. In Group A, Iran and Uzbekistan are six points clear of the rest of the group and face respective away games against North Korea and Qatar.

Argentina and Brazil will have two of their leading stars available again as South American qualifying for the 2026 World Cup resumes with the last two rounds of games this year. Defending World Cup champion Argentina will once again count on goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who was suspended for two international matches in October. Brazil will bring back winger Vinícius Júnior, who missed the last two qualifiers through injury but has recovered. South American leaders Argentina will play at Paraguay on Thursday, shortly after fourth-place Brazil visits Venezuela. Also on Thursday, host Ecuador and Bolivia will face off in Guayaquil. Potentially the most interesting match of the 11th round will be played on Friday in Montevideo, where third-place Uruguay hosts second-place Colombia. The bottom two in the 10-team standings, Peru and Chile, will meet the same day. All teams play again next Tuesday in the 12th round of games, when Argentina hosts Peru and Brazil has a home game against Uruguay. Argentina currently has 22 points, three more than Colombia, with Uruguay and Brazil third and fourth with 16 points each. Ecuador and Paraguay, with 13 points, complete the top six which are direct spots in the next World Cup. Bolivia has 12 points, and its seventh place would qualify the Andean team for an international playoff. Venezuela (11), Peru (6) and Chile (5) complete the standings. Argentina looks to Messi Argentina can move even closer to a spot at the World Cup by beating Paraguay and Peru. Captain Lionel Messi will be his team's best hope for goals once again after his hat trick and two assists in the 6-0 win against Bolivia in October, with the 37-year-old the top scorer in the current South American qualifying. Argentina will travel to Asuncion with an additional challenge since Paraguay has been unbeaten since coach Gustavo Alfaro, an Argentine, took over in the middle of the year. In September, the Paraguayans beat Brazil 1-0. Coach Lionel Scaloni faced a last-minute injury that could force even more changes in Argentina's defense. Lisandro Martínez suffered an apparent abdomen injury during Manchester United's 3-0 Premier League victory over Leicester and was discharged from international duty. Scaloni had already lost Germán Pezzella. Vinícius under pressure Pressure on Brazil coach Dorival Júnior was eased in October after two wins in qualifying over Chile and Peru. And Vinícius wasn't on duty in either of them. Fans will pay close attention to the winger's performances against tough defenses at Venezuela and later against Uruguay, as he tries to reproduce for Brazil the same decisive performances for Real Madrid. Brazil once again will not have Neymar, who picked up a muscular injury earlier this month. There's no big name as a center forward because Rodrygo is injured, too, and Endrick was not chosen. Vinícius will likely have to link up effectively with Raphinha and Luiz Henrique. Vinícius will face two teams that are in a degree of turmoil. Venezuela hasn't won any of its last six qualifiers, and Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa is still under fire from former players for his handling of the team. Two wins for Brazil won't secure the team a spot at the next World Cup just yet, but they will give fans and players some reassurance after a turbulent year. Unfinished business Colombia is hardly expecting a friendly reception in Montevideo on Friday. After all, there's unfinished business with Uruguay since their turbulent semifinal encounter at the Copa América in the United States in July. Colombia's victory kicked off a brawl between Colombian fans and relatives of the Uruguay players. Led by striker Darwin Núñez, the Uruguayans went into the stands to defend their relatives. Núnez was later suspended for five matches. Uruguay's Bielsa will be without two key midfielders, Nicolás de la Cruz and Giorgian de Arrascaeta, both injured. Uruguay has not won since its third-place match at the Copa America.

Touring Maldives National Football team will play hosts Bangladesh national side in the first of the two- match FIFA Tier-1 International Friendly series here on Wednesday. The match between two South Asian rivals will kick off at 6 pm at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in the capital. It will be the 19th international football match between FIFA ranked 186th Bangladesh and FIFA ranked 163rd Maldives since 1984. In the previous 18 encounters, both the teams won six, drew six and lost the remaining six matches. In their last two meetings, Bangladesh earned 2-1 win over the Maldives at home while they played 1-1 draw with the Maldives in the away match. Ahead of the Wednesday's match, the Spanish Head Coach of Bangladesh team Javier Fernandez Cabrera and captain Topu Barman disclosed their plan, preparations and expectation at a press conference at the Kings arena Tuesday afternoon. Coach of the Maldives team Ali Suzain and player Samooh Ali also addressed the day's press conference. The Maldives team which arrived Dhaka on Monday, made their practice session at the Bashundhara Kings Arena today (Tuesday) evening after hosts Bangladesh made their final practices at the same venue Tuesday afternoon. The 2nd and last match between two teams will be held on Saturday (November 16) at the same venue. Meanwhile, the BFF has announced rate of tickets for the Wednesday's (Nov 13) match which is available at the Bashundhara braches of Social Islami Bank and South East Bank. Rate of tickets: VIP - Tk 800.00, Category 1 - Tk 300.00 and Category 2 - Tk 300.00 each.

The Maldives National Football team arrived in Dhaka on Monday to play a two-match Tier-1 FIFA International Friendly series against hosts Bangladesh. Hosts Bangladesh National Football Team will play the touring Maldives national side in two FIFA Int'l Friendlies on November 13 and 16 at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in the capital. The Bangladesh team will make their final practice session Tuesday afternoon from 5:45 pm at the Basundhara Kings Arena, while the touring Maldives team will make their practices at the same venue on Tuesday from 6 pm. Bangladesh and the Maldives have played 18 matches each since 1984, where both teams won six, drew six, and lost the remaining six matches. Bangladesh, currently ranked 186th in the world, will take on the Maldives, who sit at 163rd. This will mark the first international match for the Maldivian side this year, following a challenging period for their footballing federation. In their previous meetings, Bangladesh emerged victorious with a 2-1 win at home while they played a 1-1 draw in the away match. Meanwhile, the BFF has announced the rate of tickets for Wednesday's (Nov 13) match. Rate of tickets: VIP - Tk 800.00, Category 1 - Tk 300.00 and Category 2 - Tk 300.00 each. Earlier, the Spanish head coach of the Bangladesh football team, Javier Cabrera, announced a 27-member Bangladesh preliminary squad. 27-member Bangladesh preliminary squad are. Goalkeeper: Anisur Rahman Zico, Mehdi Hasan Srabon, Mitul Marma, and Sujon Hossain Defender: Saad Uddin, Topu Barman, Rabbi Hossain Rahul, Murad Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Shakil Ahad Topu, Rahmat Mia, Shakil Hossain, Isa Faysal, and Taj Uddin. Midfielder: Chandan Roy, Mojibur Rahman Jony, Sohel Rana, Mohammad Hridoy, Syed Shah Quazem Kirmanee, Papon Singh, and Didarul Alam Forward- Rakib Hossain, Shekh Morsalin, Foysal Ahmed Fahim, Shahriar Emon, Pias Ahmed Nova and Mirajul Islam.

The unbeaten SAFF Women's Champions Bangladesh Football team got their pre-pledged bonus of TK 1 crore from the Ministry of Youth and Sports within 11 days of the announcement. Bangladesh Women's Football team clinched the prestigious SAFF women's crown for the second consecutive time, shocking hosts Nepal by 2-1 goals in the final at a houseful Dashrath Rangasala (Stadium) in Kathmandhu on October 30. Earlier, Adviser to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Asif Mahmud Sojib Bhuiyan announced the bonus for the Bangladesh Women's Football team on behalf of the ministry and handed over a replica cheque at the BFF office soon after team return from Nepal on October 31. BFF announces Tk 1.5 crore bonus for SAFF-conquering Women's team The National Sports Council, under the Ministry of Youth and Sports, issued separate cheques of Tk 3,12,500 for each of the 32-member Bangladesh Women's Football team, including 23 footballers, nine coaching staff, and team officials. The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) also announced a bonus of Tk1.5 Crore for the Bangladesh Women's Football team after its first executive committee meeting at the BFF office in Motijheel last Saturday. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BFF) also announced a reward of Tk 20 lakhs for Bangladesh Women's Football team for their feat. Both rewards are likely to be distributed within this month.

Missing injured Lamine Yamal, Barcelona saw its seven-game winning run come to an end with a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad in the Spanish league on Sunday. Yamal, one of the team's key players this season under new coach Hansi Flick, was ruled out before the game because of a right ankle injury. He was replaced by Fermín López and the team's attack — by far the best in the league with 40 goals scored in 13 matches — struggled in the Basque Country, unable to get a single attempt on target against Sociedad. Sheraldo Becker scored a 33rd-minute winner to move Sociedad, which had lost two of its last three games in all competitions, to eighth place. Barcelona has a six-point lead over second-place Real Madrid, which routed Osasuna 4-0 at home on Saturday with a hat trick from Vinícius Júnior. Madrid has a game in hand after its visit to Valencia was postponed because of the deadly floods in the Valencia region. “We have to analyze what happened and keep working after the international break,” Barcelona midfielder Pedri said. “We have been playing well and we are still in first place.” Barcelona had won seven in a row in all competitions since a 4-2 loss at Osasuna in the league in September. Its only other loss this season had been at Monaco in the Champions League. All of its other 14 matches were victories. Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, the league's leading scorer with 14 goals, had a first-half goal disallowed for offside. Yamal injury Barcelona said Yamal sustained a “severe right ankle contusion” in last Wednesday’s game against Red Star in the Champions League. “Over the past few days, he has undergone treatment, but the discomfort has yet to subside. His recovery will determine his availability,” the club said. Flick said the club tested Yamal on Sunday to see if he could play “but it was not possible.” Atletico Madrid back in third place Julián Álvarez scored a second-half winner as Atletico Madrid moved back into third place with a 1-0 victory at Mallorca. That left Atletico one point behind Madrid. It moved two points ahead of Villarreal, which defeated visiting Alaves 3-0 on Saturday. Álvarez scored Atletico's winner in the 61st minute after Giuliano Simeone's assist. Simeone, the son of Atletico coach Diego Simeone, beat a defender to a long pass and set Álvarez for an easy strike from close range. Goalkeeper Jan Oblak had another solid performance for Atletico, which earned its seventh clean sheet in the league this season, the most by any club. Atletico was coming off a 2-1 midweek win at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Betis draws late Marc Bartra scored a stoppage-time equalizer as seventh-place Real Betis salvaged a 2-2 home draw against 11th-place Celta Vigo. Celta had moved ahead with Anastasios Douvikas' goal in the 82nd. The visitors earlier took the lead through Javi Rodríguez in the 13th before Vitor Roque equalized for Betis in the 40th. Other results Midtable Girona won 1-0 at 17th-place Getafe with a first-half goal by Yangel Herrera, while sixth-place Athletic Bilbao was held at second-to-last-place Valladolid, with the Basque Country club earning the equalizer with Gorka Guruzeta in stoppage time after the hosts had taken the lead with Raúl Moro in the 79th.

Timothy Weah’s first-half goal for Juventus in a 2-0 derby win over Torino on Saturday marked the United States international’s third goal in four Serie A matches. Weah, who also scored recently against Inter Milan and Parma, was in the right spot to redirect in a rebound of a shot from Andrea Cambiaso. Weah’s father, former Ballon d’Or winner George Weah, was watching from the stands. Timothy Weah had another potential goal waved off for a handball. Kenan Yildiz sealed it for Juventus with a crouching header late in the second half. Juventus moved up to third, level on points with second-placed Inter Milan, which hosts league leader Napoli on Sunday. Leao scores 2 in AC Milan draw Rafael Leao took advantage of his spot in AC Milan’s lineup after surprisingly being benched lately, scoring twice and helping to set up a third in a 3-3 draw at Cagliari. Still, Milan struggled at relegation-threatened Cagliari just four days after a win at Real Madrid in the Champions League. The pre-game attention was on 16-year-old Francesco Camarda getting the nod at center forward following an injury to Alvaro Morata, but it was Leao who made the biggest impact. Nadir Zortea put Cagliari ahead in the second minute before Leao struck back with a brace before halftime. First, Leao scored with a lob following an excellent setup from Tijjani Reijnders. Then the Portugal winger took a throughball from Youssouf Fofana and dribbled around the goalkeeper for his second. Gabriele Zappa equalized for Cagliari shortly after the break and Milan went ahead again with a goal from Tammy Abraham, who had just come on for Camarda. On a play that began with Leao inside Milan’s half, Abraham redirected in a rebound following a shot from Christian Pulisic. Zappa then completed a brace, too, with a spectacular volley. Milan remained seventh. Parma wins matchup of promoted clubs Parma came back from a goal down for a 2-1 win at last-placed Venezia with goals from Emanuele Valeri and Ange-Yoan Bonny. Hans Nicolussi Caviglia put Venezia ahead five minutes into the matchup of promoted clubs. Parma hadn't won since beating Milan in August. Lecce fires Gotti Relegation-threatened Lecce fired Luca Gotti following a 1-1 draw with Empoli on Friday. The southern club did not immediately name a new coach. It’s the second coaching change in Serie A after Daniele De Rossi was replaced by Ivan Juric at Roma.

The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) announced a rewards of Taka 1.5 Crore for SAFF Women's champions Bangladesh Football team in its first executive committee meeting at the BFF office in Motijheel on Saturday. Bangladesh Women's Football team clinched the prestigious SAFF women's crown for the 2nd consecutive times just three days after the BFF Election'2024 shocking hosts Nepal by 2-1 goals in the final at a house full Dashrath Rangasala (Stadium) in Kathmandhu on October 30. The prize money will be distributed among the players and the coaching staff of the women's Football team very soon. Chairman of the newly formed BFF media committee Amirul Islam Babu disclosed its to the media after the day's first executive committee meeting of BFF chaired by newly elected president Tabith Awal. Tk 1 crore rewarded to Women’s SAFF Champions Earlier, Adviser for Youth and Sports Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan handed over a cheque of Taka one crore on be half of the ministry to the Bangladesh Women's Football team, which earned a rare honour of winning the 2nd consecutive SAFF Women's title. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BFF) also announced a reward of Taka 20 lakhs for Bangladesh Women's Football team for their feat. In the day's first EC meeting, chaired by newly elected BFF President Tabith Awal, also formed 11 standing and 14 adhoc committees for smooth running of the football federation. BFF president Tabith Awal became chairman of three standing committees --Finance, National Teams and Emergency Committee. BFF senior vice president M Imrul Hassan re-elected as Professional League Management Committee chairman, vice president M Naser Shahriar Jahedi made Development Committee chairman ,vice president Sabbir Ahmed Aref made Dhaka Metropolis League Committee chairman, vice president M Wahiduddin Chowdhury Happy made International Audit Committee chairman and M Amirul Islam Babu chairman of Media Committee.

Barcelona and Inter Milan won again in the Champions League on Wednesday though both former title holders are looking up in the standings toward upstart newcomer Brest. Aston Villa started the week atop the 36-team table but its winning run ended after a bizarre penalty was awarded when defender Tyrone Mings picked up the ball in the area at Club Brugge, resulting in a 1-0 loss that sent the English club plummeting to eighth place. Paris Saint-Germain, in its first season without Kylian Mbappé, trails far behind in 25th after Atletico Madrid scored in stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for the Spanish team at Parc des Princes. Barcelona’s blistering scoring form continued in a 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade — a seventh straight win since the start of October at a rate of four goals per game. Robert Lewandowski scored twice and has 21 this season. Inter Milan stifled Arsenal in a 1-0 win at San Siro sealed by Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s penalty in first-half stoppage time. Inter is unbeaten on 10 points and in fifth place, one below Brest which won 2-1 at Sparta Prague. The French debutant looks sure to advance to the knockout phase starting in February. Atalanta won 2-0 at Stuttgart to stay unbeaten on eight points and Salzburg got its first goals and points in a 3-1 win at Feyenoord. Bayern Munich won 1-0 at home to Benfica in a game that was delayed 15 minutes by crowd congestion and then was played in a muted atmosphere because of a medical incident for a fan. Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Heorhiy Sudakov had a fine assist and an even better goal in a 2-1 win for the Ukrainian champion against Young Boys. Shakhtar’s No. 10 showed why he is expected to be the club’s next big-money sale. Liverpool, which on Tuesday routed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0, leads the standings at the midway point of the eight-round program. Liverpool is the only team with four straight wins, while five teams have four losses. They are Leipzig, Sturm Graz, Young Boys, Red Star and Slovan Bratislava. Two Italian teams – Inter Milan and Atalanta – have yet to concede a goal in four games. Another Italian side, Bologna, is the only team with no goals scored. Villa slides Villa had led the standings in the new league-phase format after three straight wins without conceding a goal — and it took a bizarre incident before goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez was eventually beaten. Mings was punished for picking up the ball when Martínez seemed to restart play with a goal kick passed forward to his teammate. Mings walked a couple steps to gather the ball with his left hand and returned to place it in the six-yard box. "It’s the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career,” Villa coach Unai Emery said. “It has only happened one time in all my life. Today.” Brugge captain Hans Vanaken placed the 52nd-minute spot-kick to Martínez's left as the World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper dived to his right. Bayern and Dinamo It was the standout result of the inaugural week of the new Champions League in September: Bayern Munich 9, Dinamo Zagreb 2. It was the first time a team had scored nine times in a game in the 32-year Champions League era, and Dinamo fired its coach two days later. Since then? Bayern lost twice, including a 4-1 rout at Barcelona, and Dinamo won twice. At the end of play Wednesday, Bayern was 17th on six points, one place below Dinamo on seven. If those placings hold until January, they meet again twice more in the knockout playoffs round. Next up The fifth round in three weeks' time has perhaps the stellar attraction of 144 games in the league phase: Liverpool vs. Real Madrid. That game on Nov. 27 is a rematch of the 2022 and 2018 finals, both won by Madrid, and the 1981 European Cup title match that Liverpool won. There is another final rematch: Bayern Munich hosts PSG on Nov. 26 in a repeat of the pandemic-season final played in August 2020 without fans in Lisbon. Also, sixth-place Barcelona hosts Brest, a fixture which might have been overlooked when the draw was made in August yet the French team is currently fourth. Only the top eight teams in January advance directly to the round of 16 in March.