Football
Int’l Women’s Football: Bangladesh makes flying start in two-match series outplaying hosts Bhutan 5-1
The SAFF Women’s champions Bangladesh Football team made a flying start in the two-match FIFA International Women’s Football (Tier-1) Series outplaying hosts Bhutan by 5-1 goals at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu Wednesday evening.
Youthful Bangladesh Women’s Football team, which playing the two-match FIFA International Series as a part of their preparation for the ensuing SAFF Women’s Championship to be held in Nepal next October, will play their remaining match on July 27 at the same venue.
This was the 3rd consecutive victory for the Bangladesh National Women’s team against Bhutan after beating the Himalayan nation by 9-0 goals in the first SAFF Women’s Championship in Cox’s Bazar in 2010 and beat them by 8-0 goals in Kathmandu in 2022 on way to clinch their first-ever SAFF Women’s Championship.
Experienced forward Sabina Khatun-led Bangladesh women’s team dominated the first half by 1-0 goal.
This time Bangladesh were forced to field an youthful women’s team without key players like Tohura Khatun, Shamsunnahar Jr, Afeida Khondakar, Shaheda Akter Ripa for the HSC exam and Krishna Rani Sarkar and Aklima Khatun for injury.
Earlier, Bangladesh Women’s team, under their new British Head Coach Peter James Butler, played a two-match preparatory series in Dhaka against the Chinese Taipei and lost both the matches by 0-4 and 0-1 goal respectively.
BFF U-18 Football League: Dhaka Abahani clinch title with a match to spare
Dhaka Abahani Limited emerged champions in the nine- team BFF Under-18 Football League' 2023-24 with one match to spare beating Bangladesh Police FC 1-0 at the practice ground of Bashundhara Kings Arena here Tuesday evening.
Forward Yeasin Arafat Sifat scored the match winning goal for the sky-blue Dhanmondi outfit Abahani in the 17th minute (1-0).
With the day's well merited victory, the sky-blue Dhanmondi outfit Abahani assured the league crown with an all-win record securing a full 21 points from straight seven league encounters.
Six times BPL champions Dhaka Abahani Senior football team, which failed to clinch the league title since the emergence of Bashundhara Kings in 2918, finally overcame their long trophy drought by winning the BFF U-18 football crown with the brilliant performances of their Junior team.
Dhaka Abahani will play their last league match against Sheikh Russel KC on Friday (July 19) at the Mohammadpur Physical Education College ground, the result of which will not affect their league title.
On way to the league crown, Dhaka Abahani beat Fortis FC 2-0, Sheikh Jamal DC 2-1, Brothers Union 2-0, Rahmatganj MFS 4-1, Bashundhara Kings 2-1 and Dhaka Mohammedan SC by 3-1 goals
In another match, season's treble winners Bashundhara Kings shared points with Dhaka Mohammedan SC in a goalless draw at the Mohammadpur Physical Education College ground Tuesday afternoon.
Shohel Hossain Rana of the Kings got marching order after receiving double yellow cards in the match.
The day's other match between Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Rahmatganj MFS ended in 1-1 draw at the Armed Police Battalion ground in Uttara on Tuesday.
Ariful put Sheikh Jamal ahead in the 19th minute (1-0) while Delwar restored the parity for Rahmatganj MFS in the added time (90+3 minute) of the match (1-1).
Sr Division Football: Sadharan Bima CSC beat Mugda Samaj Kallyan Sangsad
Sadharan Bima Corporation SC beat Mugda Samaj Kallyan 0 Krira Sangsad by 2-0 goals in the Bashundhara Group Senior (First) Division Football League 2023-24 at the Bir Sherestha Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka's Kamalapur on Monday afternoon.
In the day's match, Golam Sarwar put the insurance men's team ahead in the very 4th minute (1-0), while Ujjal Hossain confirmed the Sadharan Bima victory by scoring one more goal in the 61st minute (2-0).
Sr Division Football: Mohakhali Ekadosh earn comfortable 3-1 victory over Motijheel T&T
The day's other match between Swadhinata Krira Sangha and Siddikbazar Dhaka Junior Sporting Club ended in a 1-1 draw at the same venue on Monday morning.
Dhaka Junior took the lead in the 33rd minute with a gifted goal when Swadhinata KS defender Sayem Hossain sent the ball into his own net (1-0).
Sr Division Football: Jatrabari Jhotika Sangsad outplay Little Friends Club by 4-1 goals
Mohammad Saifullah levelled the margin for Swadhinata KS, scoring a goal in the 40th minute (1-1).
Sr Division Football: Badda Jagoroni Sangsad make a good start beating Sadharan Bima KS 3-0
Argentina wins record 16th Copa America title, beats Colombia 1-0 after Messi gets hurt
Argentina won its second straight Copa America championship, overcoming Lionel Messi’s second-half leg injury to beat Colombia 1-0 Sunday night on Lautaro Martínez’s 112th-minute goal.
Messi appeared to sustain a non-contact injury while running and falling in the 64th minute and covered his face with his hands as he sat on the bench and sobbed.
Martínez later ran to that bench to hug his captain after the goal that propelled Argentina to its record 16th Copa title.
In a match that started 1 hour, 22 minutes late because of crowd trouble at Hard Rock Stadium, Argentina won its third straight major title following the 2021 Copa America and 2022 World Cup and matched Spain, which won the 2008 and 2012 European Championships around the 2010 World Cup.
Argentina also stopped Colombia’s 28-game unbeaten streak dating to a February 2022 loss to the Albiceleste.
Martínez entered in the 97th minute and scored from Giovani Lo Celso’s perfect through pass. Just inside the penalty area, Martínez sent a right-foot shot through the upraised arms of sliding goalkeeper Camilo Vargas for his 29th international goal, his tournament-high fifth.
Making his 39th and possibly last Copa America appearance at age 37, Messi had one goal in the tournament. He went down after an ankle was stepped on in the first half but remained in the game.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner looked to the bench as soon as he fell to the field in the second half, appearing to know his tournament was over. He took off his right boot as he walked off and slammed it frustration, and his ankle appeared to swell.
The start was delayed from 8 p.m. EDT to 9:22 p.m. because of crowd control issues outside the stadium, including troves of fans breaching security gates at a venue to be used for the 2026 World Cup.
Days after Uruguay players were involved in a brawl with Colombia fans following their semifinal match in Charlotte, North Carolina, video showed fans climbing fences and railings to get inside the championship match, with officials unable to keep track of who had purchased tickets and who didn’t.
Colombia was more aggressive and forced goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez to make four saves in the first half, but Argentina began to threaten more in the second.
Nicolás Tagliafico thought he scored in the 75th minute but was ruled offside. Nicolás González, who replaced Messi. was stopped by Vargas in the 95th minute.
Numerous players lost their footing during the second half of Sunday’s match. The grass was heavily watered with sprinklers following the halftime performance by Colombian pop star Shakira, which caused an extended halftime break.
Lionel Messi exits Copa America final with apparent leg injury, ankle swollen
Lionel Messi's night ended early during the Copa America final when he emotionally exited the field in the 64th minute with an apparent leg injury on Sunday night, and cameras showed him later on the bench with a badly swollen right ankle.
The 37-year-old appeared to suffer a noncontact injury while running full speed on the pitch as defending champ Argentina remained in a scoreless match against Colombia.
Messi immediately looked toward the Argentina bench as he went to the ground. He remained down for several minutes as trainers came out. He was helped to his feet and immediately took his shoe off his right foot.
As he walked off the field, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner took off his captains armband and threw his shoe to the ground in frustration. An emotional Messi was then shown covering his face, sobbing in his seat.
Messi went down in the first half after landing awkwardly when chasing a ball out of bounds. He rolled over several times as he grabbed at his lower right leg. Trainers worked on the area for a few minutes before helping him to his feet. He walked slowly toward the sideline before returning to the game.
Messi had been dealing with a leg injury and discomfort through much of the tournament and missed Argentina's group stage finale. He had one shot attempt in the first half Sunday.
Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia underway following a delay of more than an hour
The Copa America final between Argentina and Colombia is underway after a delay of more than an hour on Sunday evening because of crowd issues, including fans breaching security gates.
Hours before kickoff, fans got past the gates at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, one of the host sites for the 2026 World Cup.
Video posted on social media showed fans, mostly wearing Colombia's yellow and red colors, jumping over security railings near the southwest entrance of the stadium and running past police officers and stadium attendants. Screams could be heard in the background.
A handful of people could be seen receiving medical treatment and asking for water in the sweltering South Florida heat. Officers were able to push the crowd behind the gates and lock down the entrance so that no one could get inside, although plenty of fans with tickets had already made it to their seats before then.
One young fan wearing an Argentina jersey was let inside the gate crying hysterically as the man who was with him and a police officer tried to comfort him.
Security initially appeared to open gates slightly to allow only a handful a fans in at a time, while other angry attendees pushed against the railings.
After reclosing the gates, security began letting fans reenter slowly around 8:10 p.m., with the new kickoff time set for 9:15 p.m., but the commotion did not stop. Fans again broke through the railings, so many filing in that security scanners rocked back and forth from the force.
Fans wearing gear from both teams started running in multiple directions, some carrying children on their shoulders. Tickets were not being scanned and few police officers or stadium officials could be seen in the sea of people.
Some fans started climbing over fences to get in. Three police officers were seen placing handcuffs on a fan with a Colombia flag on a ramp that leads to the stadium's seats.
A fan named Claudio, who traveled to the game from Mendoza in Argentina, spoke of not being able to breathe as police attempted to subdue the chaos.
“They can’t organize a World Cup! It’s impossible,” Claudio said in Spanish. "People stuck against the gate for hours, unable to breathe. There was a senior citizen, look at him, look at him (motioning at his young son), left without water. No water, nothing."
Miami-Dade County's police department issued a statement on X following the scene, mentioning there were “several incidents” before the gates opened at the stadium.
“These incidents have been a result of the unruly behavior of fans trying to access the stadium," the statement said. "We are asking everyone to be patient, and abide by the rules set by our officers and Hard Rock Stadium personnel. We are actively working with Hard Rock Stadium to ensure a safe environment for all those attending. Unruly behavior will get you ejected and/or arrested.”
Players took the pitch at about 8:38 p.m. to begin warming up.
Hard Rock Stadium also issued a statement, saying that “thousands of fans without tickets tried to forcibly enter the stadium.”
“All fans without tickets MUST leave Hard Rock Stadium premises,” the statement said. “It is paramount to a successful and most importantly a safe match.”
A sellout crowd of more than 65,000 was expected for the championship match of the South American tournament. There was a decent split between fans of Argentina and Colombia in the stands, though there appeared to be more yellow Colombia gear.
It isn't clear which of the fans who gained entrance during the rushes had tickets to the match — CONMEBOL, South America's governing body, posted a statement on X a day before warning that fans must have tickets to even enter the parking lot of the venue.
The Associated Press spoke with several people Sunday who had parked their cars in the parking lot of the stadium without tickets to the match.
Standing near a tent that said “Those without entry” in Spanish was Víctor Cruz, an Argentina native of Mendoza who did not purchase tickets.
“It doesn’t matter if we don’t go in, we’ll see it somewhere,” said Cruz, hours before kickoff.
There were people still waiting to enter the game who had received tickets, along with those who did not have tickets, all of whom were held behind security gates close to the original 8 p.m. EDT start time.
Copa America, in a post on X Sunday evening, said that only fans who have purchased tickets would be able to enter “once access is reopened.”
Birthday boy Lamine Yamal wins Euro 2024 and best young player award
Spain’s teenage phenom Lamine Yamal won the European Championship and the tournament’s best young player award just a day after he turned 17.
Yamal earned it mostly while he was still 16, but he crowned his contribution to Spain’s success by setting up Nico Williams’ opening goal in a 2-1 win over England in the final on Sunday.
“This is the best (birthday) gift I could have asked for. It’s a dream come true,” Yamal said. “It got tough when they tied the score, but I don’t know what this team is made of because we always fight back.”
England substitute Cole Palmer had equalized for England, but Mikel Oyarzabal clinched Spain’s win in the 86th.
Yamal set up Williams to score in the 47th by drifting inside Luke Shaw and playing the ball across to the left for the Athletic Bilbao winger to hit first time inside the far post. Yamal also brought two good saves from England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
“Lamine is incredible, as you’ve all seen during this tournament,” Williams said. “The sky’s the limit for him. As well as being a good player, he’s also a great person.”
Yamal became the youngest player to appear at the European Championship, the youngest to score in the tournament, and the youngest to play in a final.
Yamal plays for Barcelona, following in the footsteps of his idol, Lionel Messi, after coming through the club’s famed La Masia training academy. He's also the youngest goalscorer in the Spanish league.
He finished with four assists and one goal in his debut European Championship.
Sr. Division Football: Jatrabari Jhotika Sangsad return to winning run beating Uttar Baridhara
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
Spain and England to meet in European Championship final in front of Prince William and King Felipe
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.
Spain and England to contest Euro 2024 final in a former Nazi stadium where Jesse Owens won gold
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.
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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.
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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.