Football
Women's Asian Cup: Bangladesh placed in Group G with Iran, Jordan
Hosts Bangladesh have been placed in strong Group G of the AFC Women's Asian Cup India '2022 Qualifiers to be held in September 13-25 next at Sylhet District Stadium.
In Asian Group G, Bangladesh National Women's Football team will battle for the group title with stronger Iran and Jordan.
A total of 28 Asian teams, divided in eight groups, will compete in the qualifiers for the 12-team final round.
Also read: Women's Football: ARB College thump Cumilla United 7-0
The 12-team final round of the AFC Women's Asian Cup will be held in India from January 20 to February 6 next year .
The ceremonial draw, conducted virtually at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday put all 28 teams into eight groups.
Groups A to D has four teams while E to H has three. The group champions will qualify for the AFC Women's Asian Cup in India next year.
Also read: Women's Football: Bashundhara crush Suddopuskorini 5-0
The 8 qualifying teams will join the four which has already made the cut for the tournament, which are reigning champions Japan, Australia, China PR and India.
AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 QualifiersGroup A: Chinese Taipei (H), Bahrain, Turkmenistan, Laos.Group B: Vietnam, Tajikistan (H), Maldives, Afghanistan.Group C: DPR Korea, Singapore, Iraq, Indonesia (H).Group D: Myanmar (H), United Arab Emirates, Guam, Lebanon.Group E: Korea Republic, Uzbekistan (H), Mongolia.Group F: Philippines, Hong Kong, Nepal (H).Group G: Jordan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Bangladesh (H).Group H: Thailand, Palestine, Malaysia.The hosts (H) for Group H will be announced.
UEFA Euro 2020: Round of 16 Qualified Teams, Fixtures
The group stage of the ongoing Euro 2020 tournament came to an end on Wednesday. We had seen some thrilling matches in this round and had to wait until the final group stage matchups to find out who would advance to the next round. 16 teams have qualified for the first knockout round at the completion of the first phase of the tournament. All the expected teams have reached the next round. The first knockout round of the competition will begin on Saturday. The qualified teams and fixtures of the UEFA Euro 2020 round of 16 have been covered in this article.
Qualified Teams for the Round of 16
The top two teams from each of the six groups, as well as the top four third-place teams across all groups, have qualified for the round of 16 of UEFA Euro 2020. Let's see which teams from each group have advanced to the next round.
Group A
Italy topped group A with the most points (9), followed by Wales, Switzerland, and Turkey. Wales and Switzerland have also progressed to the next round of the championship.
Read:Messi Reaches Another Milestone as Argentina Win Tough Match at Copa America 2021
Group B
Hot favorite Belgium won all three matches in group B and finished first in the standings. Denmark, Finland, and Russia all earned three points, but Denmark took second place due to a better goal difference. The Danish national team have qualified for the Round of 16 in the European Championship.
Group C
The Netherlands finished first in the group stage with 9 points after winning all of their matches. North Macedonia failed to qualify for the knockout stage, while Austria and Ukraine both have advanced for the next round.
Group D
One of the favorites of the tournament England topped the Group D points table followed by Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Scotland. The Czech Republic and Croatia have advanced to the round of 16 of the European Championship.
Read European Football Season 2020-21: Individual Award Winners
Group E
Sweden claimed the top spot of group E, while Spain had to settle for second place in the points standings. They've both progressed to the next round. Slovakia and Poland were unable to qualify for the knockout stage.
Group F
Hot favorite France finished top in the group of death with 5 points. Germany and Portugal have both qualified to the next round, but Hungary came in fourth in the points table and did not make it to the last 16.
Read:Depay, Wijnaldum score, Netherlands beats NMacedonia 3-0
Fixtures of the Round of 16
Date
Match
Venue & Time (BST)
Jun 26 (Saturday)
Wales vs Denmark
Amsterdam (10 PM)
June 27 (Sunday)
Italy vs Austria
London (1 AM)
June 27 (Sunday)
Netherlands vs Czech Republic
Budapest (10 PM)
June 28 (Monday)
Belgium vs Portugal
Seville (1 AM)
June 28 (Monday)
Croatia vs Spain
Copenhagen (10 PM)
June 29 (Tuesday)
France vs Switzerland
Bucharest (1 AM)
June 29 (Tuesday)
England vs Germany
London (10 PM)
June 30 (Wednesday)
Sweden vs Ukraine
Glasgow (1 AM)
Sources: https://www.uefa.com/
Read:Wembley may have 65,000 fans for Euro 2020 semifinals, final
Bottom Line
The best national teams in Europe have qualified for the round of 16 stage of the UEFA Euro 2020 competition. So, we can anticipate the deserving team to win the championship in the end.Defending champion Portugal will face hot favorite Belgium in the next round, making it extremely difficult for them to retain the title. Though, no match in the round of sixteen will be easy. The teams must perform at their best to advance to the quarterfinals.
Read Copa America 2021: Brazil Win, Argentina Draw With Chile, Messi’s Stunning Goal
Croatia advances, beats Scotland 3-1
Croatia advanced to the round of 16 at the European Championship by beating Scotland 3-1.
Nikola Vlašić, Luka Modrić and Ivan Perišić all scored for the 2018 World Cup finalists.
READ: Messi Reaches Another Milestone as Argentina Win Tough Match at Copa America 2021
Scotland briefly equalized at 1-1 when midfielder Callum McGregor scored with a long-range shot in the 42nd minute.
Scotland finished last in Group D with one point from its three matches.
BCL Football: Fakirerpool YMC beat Victoria SC 4-0
Fakirerpool Youngmen's Club earned a comfortable 4-0 victory over Victoria Sporting Club in the 2nd phase match of the 12-team Bangladesh Championship League (BCL) Football' 2020-21 at the Kamalapur Stadium here on Tuesday.
Kankar struck twice in the 21st and 74th minutes while Amiruzzaman and Roman netted two more goals for the winners in the 57th and 58th minutes respectively.
Hossain of Victoria SC got marching order after receiving red card in the match.
Messi Reaches Another Milestone as Argentina Win Tough Match at Copa America 2021
Argentina have qualified for the Copa America 2021 quarterfinals after a 1-0 win over Paraguay on Tuesday early morning. With this match, Lionel Messi has equaled former teammate Javier Mascherano for the most 147 appearances for Argentina. Albiceleste had a difficult time winning their third match in the group stage. However, they emerged victorious in the end because of their defense's tenacity. Argentina were able to keep their unbeaten run intact as they have not lost a single match since the semifinal encounter against Brazil in 2019. Lionel Messi's milestone and the results of Group 'A' are discussed in this article.
Match Report: Argentina vs Paraguay
Prior to this match, Lionel Messi had appeared in 146 international matches for Argentina. Now, Messi has made the most appearances for Argentina (147). Previously, defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano played an equal number of matches for the Albiceleste, who last appeared for the national side in the 2018 world cup final against Germany.
Messi has 73 goals in 147 appearances for Argentina, which is the 12th highest in the history of world football. Iran's Ali Daei (109) and Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (107) have scored the most goals in international competition. Furthermore, Malaysia's Soh Chin Ann is the only footballer to have appeared in over 200 international games (224).
Read Copa America 2021: Brazil Win, Argentina Draw With Chile, Messi’s Stunning Goal
Despite the fact that Messi did not score in the match against Paraguay, he was instrumental in setting up the game's lone goal.
At the beginning of the contest, Messi made a fantastic move down the attacking half before passing the ball to Angel Di Maria. Di Maria then delicately stretched the ball to Alejandro Gomez from just outside the D-box. Gomez received the ball and flicked it to the right post corner, scoring the game's only goal in the 10th minute.
Argentina embraced a more defensive approach after taking a 1-0 lead early in the game. On the other hand, Paraguay became desperate to score.
They continued to attack the Argentine defense, especially in the second half. However, a solid Argentine defensive technique prevented them from scoring. The Paraguayans would have qualified for the quarter-finals if they could win the match.
Read European Football Season 2020-21: Individual Award Winners
Paraguay failed to score despite having the ball possession considerably more than Argentina as they had 57 percent of the ball possession, while Argentina had 43 percent in the match.
Meanwhile, typical South American passing football was absent in Argentina's game plan, as it had been in the previous two encounters. Argentina have adopted a more European style of play. But two experienced footballers, Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria showed a few dazzling displays in the match.
Lionel Scaloni has been working hard to improve the defensive line since taking over as coach of Argentina's national team. Argentina haven't lost in any of their last 16 matches under his management.
Though Argentina seem incapable to attack effectively due to their weakness in the midfield position. They try to attack with two wings, but it hasn't worked out well so far. Argentina will be in big trouble against a strong team like Brazil if they can't address this problem in the knockout round.
Read Ballon d'Or 2021: Who Will Win the Prestigious Award?
In group 'A', the match between Chile and Uruguay ended in a draw. Uruguay have yet to completely emerge as one of the title contenders for the Copa America 2021. That's why Uruguay will be looking to recapture their best form in their last two group stage matches against Paraguay and Bolivia.
Bottom Line
Argentina are currently leading the Group 'A' with two wins and one draw in three games. On the other hand, Chili are in the second position with 5 points. While Paraguay are in third place with three points and Uruguay are in fourth place with one point. Bolivia have yet to win a match, but they may move up to fourth place if they beat Uruguay in their next encounter. So, the final few group stage matches of Copa America 2021 could be intriguing.
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Depay, Wijnaldum score, Netherlands beats NMacedonia 3-0
Memphis Depay scored one, he set up Georginio Wijnaldum for the next two, and the Netherlands made it three out of three.
The Dutch team completed the group stage at the European Championship with a 3-0 victory over North Macedonia on Monday, the second team at the tournament after Italy to win all three of its opening matches.
Depay, who just signed for Barcelona, scored the first goal after a slick counterattack in the 24th minute. He then passed to Wijnaldum for a tap-in goal in the 51st, and seven minutes later goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski saved a shot from Depay that Wijnaldum put into the roof of the net off the rebound.
The Netherlands had already won the group before the match and North Macedonia was already eliminated after losing its first two matches at its first major tournament.
READ: Wembley may have 65,000 fans for Euro 2020 semifinals, final
The match at the Johan Cruyff Arena was the 122nd and last international for North Macedonia captain Goran Pandev. His teammates formed a guard of honor and the crowd gave him a standing ovation as he was substituted in the 69th minute.
North Macedonia created the best chances before Depay’s goal.
Ivan Trickovski slid a shot low into the corner of the net in the ninth minute, but the goal was ruled out for offside. And in the 22nd, Aleksandar Trajkovski hit the post with a shot from outside the box after being set up by Pandev.
The Dutch took the lead two minutes later. Daley Blind tackled Pandev just outside the Dutch penalty area and the Netherlands new attacking partnership of Donyell Malen and Depay exchanged passes twice in a swift counterattack that ended with Depay shooting low past Dimitrievski. VAR checked Blind’s tackle and ruled that he played the ball fairly.
In the second half, Netherlands coach Frank de Boer switched to the traditional Dutch formation of four defenders, three midfielders and three forwards. The change worked almost immediately with Wijnaldum scoring twice in seven minutes.
It was a disappointing end for Pandev, who started his international career in 2001 and has scored 38 goals for his country.
READ: France held to 1-1 draw by Hungary at Euro 2020
Before kickoff, Wijnaldum presented the North Macedonian veteran with an orange Netherlands shirt with the number 122 on the back to mark Pandev’s final tally of internationals.
The Netherlands now has to wait to see which team it will face in the round of 16 on Sunday in Budapest. As Group C winner, the team will line up against the third-place finisher in either Group D, E or F.
Wembley may have 65,000 fans for Euro 2020 semifinals, final
UEFA is in talks with the British government about increasing the attendance at Wembley Stadium to 65,000 for the semifinals and final of the European Championship, people with knowledge of the discussions said Monday.
The government had already agreed to increase the current group-stage capacity of about 22,000 to at least 40,000 for one game in the round of 16 game and the final three matches of the Euro 2020 tournament at the 90,000-seat stadium.
UEFA hopes to increase that further by securing more quarantine exemptions for visitors, including sponsors and VIPs, the people told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private talks.
There are fears Britain is seeing the start of a third wave of coronavirus infections with cases rising to 68,449 over the last seven days. The resurgence, which is the result of the delta variant first identified in India, led Italian Premier Mario Draghi to call for moving the Euro 2020 final away from Britain.
READ: Germany clicks at Euro 2020 with 4-2 win over Portugal
“I advocate that the final should not take place in a country in which the risk of infection is very big,” Draghi said Monday.
Italy’s team has to fly to London this week for a last-16 game against Austria at Wembley on Saturday.
Last week, UEFA said it was in talks with authorities in London about allowing fans of the participating teams to attend the semifinals and final by staying in the country less than 24 hours and staying within bubbles.
UEFA raised the prospect of taking the games from London — with Budapest as a backup — if there was not an agreement regarding fans coming to London.
READ: France held to 1-1 draw by Hungary at Euro 2020
Tourists from all the non-British nations competing at Euro 2020 have to quarantine for at least five days upon arrival in the country under general pandemic regulations to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Women's Football: ARB College thump Cumilla United 7-0
Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan College SC made a flying start to the second phase of the Women's Football League 2020-21, crushing Cumilla United Club 7-0 at the Kamalapur Stadium Monday.
The winners dominated the first half 3-0.
Nasrin Akter (21 min), Kohati Kisku (37 min), Mahfuza Khatun (44 min), Anika Tanjum (47 min), Anuching Mogini (62 min), Afeida Khandaker (71 min) and Sohagi Kisku (90+1 min) scored one goal each for Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan College.
In Monday's other match, FC Brahmanbaria defeated Jamalpur Kacharipara Ekadash 3-1 at the same venue in the morning.
READ: Germany clicks at Euro 2020 with 4-2 win over Portugal
Munmun Akter put FC Brahmanbaria ahead in the 19th minute (1-0) while Lipi Akter restored parity for Jamalpur in the 53rd minute (1-1).
FC Brahmanbaria took the lead again as Jamalpur's Khaleda Khatun scored an own goal in the 61st minute (2-1).
Sadia Akter sealed the fate of the match, scoring the third goal for FC Brahmanbaria in the 77th minute (3-1).
READ: Women's Football: Bashundhara crush Suddopuskorini 5-0
Women's Football: Bashundhara crush Suddopuskorini 5-0
Title aspirants Bashundhara Kings made a flying start to the second phase of the Women's Football League 2020-21, outplaying Suddopuskorini Jubo SC 5-0 at the Kamalapur Stadium Sunday.
With the victory, the national star-studded Kings maintained their 100% record after securing 24 points from eight straight matches.
Also read: Women's Football: Bashundhara hands 20-0 drubbing to Nasrin DA
National women's team captain Sabina Khatun emerged as the country's first women footballer to reach the landmark of scoring 100 goals in the top-level football league.
Germany clicks at Euro 2020 with 4-2 win over Portugal
Germany finally clicked into gear at the European Championship, with a little help from defending champion Portugal.
The Portuguese became the first team to score two own-goals in one game at the continental tournament, giving Germany a 4-2 victory.
Cristiano Ronaldo put Portugal in the lead in the 15th minute against the run of play. It was his first goal against Germany and his third at Euro 2020. It also extended his all-time tournament record to 12 goals.
But defenders Rúben Dias and Raphaël Guerreiro soon put Germany ahead by scoring into their own net in the first half.
Kai Havertz and Robin Gosens then scored two more for Germany early in the second half — becoming the first players within the squad to score at a European Championship.
Diogo Jota got one back for Portugal in the 67th minute.
Both Portugal and Germany have three points in Group F, one behind France, which was surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw by Hungary in Budapest.
Hungary has one point before its final group game against Germany on Wednesday in Munich. France will play Portugal in Budapest.