Football

Argentina have a great asset in four-times world player of the year Lionel Messi but they are far more than just a one-man show, Germany coach Joachim Loew warned ahead of the World Cup final on Sunday. The Argentines needed the skills and goal-scoring prowess of talismanic Messi to reach the final at Rio de ... Read more

Argentine football icon Diego Maradona said Argentina “must win” tomorrow against Germany and affirmed that he would be more than glad to see forward Lio Messi outplay him in the World Cup final versus Germany. “If Messi wants to overcome me, I’ll set a red carpet for him to do it,” Diego told reporters, while ... Read more

Defending champions Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Mohammedan Sporting Club in their Bangladesh Premier League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Wednesday. Russell registered the win after four matches thanks to their in-form striker Mithun Chowdhury’s brace. Wahed Ahmed put Mohammedan ahead in

Miroslav Klose has made World Cup history after becoming the competition’s all-time leading goalscorer with 16 strikes, reports ESPN FC. The 36-year-old had already pulled level with Brazilian legend Ronaldo’s haul of 15 when he scored in the 71st minute of Germany’s clash with Ghana. Ronaldo had congratulated Klose with a tweet, saying: ‘Welcome to the ... Read more

Abahani Limited reduced the gap with table-toppers Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club with a 2-1 win over Team BJMC in the Bangladesh Premier League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Sunday. The win which came after three consecutive draws saw Abahani take their tally to 43 points, still nine points adrift of Jamal. Portuguese playmaker Leonildo Suares put ... Read more

Attacking trio Enamul Haque, Nkwocha Kingsley and Sunday Chizuba sscored one goal apiece as Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra secured a comfortable 3-1 win over defending champions Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra in the Bangladesh Premier League in Gopalganj on Thursday. Veteran striker Enamul put Muktijoddha ahead in

The trophy of World Cup 2015 will arrive in Bangladesh on July 25 for a two-day visit as the silverware starts touring the participating countries, the International Cricket Council said on Thursday. The first stopover of the trophy will be in Sri Lanka where it will stay for three days from July 4. The World Cup 2015 ... Read more

As the World Cup comes down to the business end, let’s take a moment to reflect. This tournament has been hailed as the best in recent memory, if not the best ever, and a lot of that praise is down to the sheer number of goals being banged in. There’s been class goal-scorers on show ... Read more

Belgium finally found a way past inspired goalkeeper Tim Howard as extra-time goals by Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku gave them a 2-1 victory over the United States today and set up a World Cup quarter-final against Argentina. Howard was in terrific form from the first minute when he denied Divock Origi and he made a ... Read more

A stunning last-minute goal from Ángel Di Maria put Argentina through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, as the Albiceleste lead Switzerland 1-0 in extra time. But Alejandro Sabella’s men were left fretting until the end, saved when Blerim Dzemaili struck the post in the dying seconds. After a tense 0-0 draw at 90 ... Read more

A simple, harmless bite on the shoulder of an opponent may have made Luis Suarez a global villain overnight, earning him a nine-match suspension, four months of stadium ban and a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs ($112,000), but not everyone is making a meal out of it. Sympathy and support poured in from all over ... Read more

‘It was Chiellini’s foul. Suarez’s teeth got hurt!’ exclaimed one fan commenting on Facebook. As Uruguay marched into the second round courtesy of a Diego Godin header, it was once again Luis Suarez who grabbed the headlines after inexplicably biting Giorgio Chiellini. This World Cup has provided many heroes for the Twitter-sphere (such as Mexican ... Read more

Coming into the World Cup, the final Group B game between the Netherlands and Chile was predicted to be a death match to decide who follows Spain into the round of 16. Then again Spain was supposed to be favourites for the tournament. The Dutch and the Chileans have since torn up that particular script ... Read more

The first question that Chandika Hathurusinghe faced in his introduction to media on Tuesday was which team he was supporting in the World Cup 2014. A bit awkward question for someone who came here to take the charge of the national cricket team, but Hathurusinghe was not the one to duck in a full toss ... Read more

The days of fluent, attacking ‘total football’ are long gone for the Netherlands. Now, results matter more than the way they are achieved. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for an older generation of ‘Oranje’ fans brought up on the almost carefree attacking elan of the likes of Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, but the 4-3-3 ... Read more

A stoppage-time strike by Mithun Chowdhury gave Sheikh Russell KC full three points against Mohammedan Sporting Club in the last match of the second phase of Bangladesh Premier League on Sunday. The match was heading towards a goalless draw before Mithun scored in the dying seconds of five minutes added time. Mohammedan, who dominated the

Substitute Lionel Messi scored his 38th goal for Argentina as they breezed past Slovenia 2-0 in their final World Cup warm-up on Saturday, reports Reuters, AFP. Messi, his country’s second highest scorer after Gabriel Batistuta, had not found the net in an international since a 5-2 qualifying win over Paraguay in

Brazil and Germany, the two favourites to win the World Cup, ended their preparation with contrasting wins in warm-up matches on Saturday, reports AFP, Reuters. The wins, however, turned sour for both the side immediately as Brazil received some booing from their own fans and to a more serious note Germany

BFF gives WC tickets to 110 fans, officials Only a few football fans were able to get the World Cup tickets from the Bangladesh Football Federation, said the officials, adding that most of the tickets allotted to Bangladesh were taken by influential quarters. FIFA allotted 228 tickets to Bangladesh for the tournament scheduled from June 12-July ... Read more

Ghana’s most influential witch doctor has claimed he is responsible for the knee injury that is threatening Cristiano Ronaldo’s participation at the World Cup, reports The Guardian. Nana Kwaku Bonsam – whose name translates literally as ‘Devil of Wednesday’ – predicted in February that the Real Madrid forward would be forced to miss this summer’s