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12 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 SEPTEMBER 2024 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI kazzopardi@mediatoday.com.mt F Solution to last week's crossword The answers to today's crossword will be published in next week's Midweek edition Weather Fine but locally partly to rather cloudy and with sea fog patches Visibility Good locally moderate or poor in fog Wind West to Northwest force 3 or 4, gradually becoming variable force 2 or 3 by late morning TOMORROW Crossword WEATHER SUNNY 36 0 / 25 0 TODAY SUNNY 35 / 25 0 FEELS LIKE 38 FEELS LIKE 38 0 ACROSS 1) Start for "lock" or "iron" 5) Temple VIP 10) Like a useless tire 14) Vegas competitor 15) Milky gems 16) Whip end? 17) Opposing 18) Cowboy Bill of legend 19) Catch a glimpse of 20) Spooky residences 23) "Bud" or "pal" kin 24) Brisk energy 25) ___ - Wan Kenobi 28) Citi Field player 29) Jack of Sgt. Friday fame 33) Fixed portion 35) Fill with enthusiasm 37) Aardvark morsels 38) Dark, spooky place 43) Affirm 44) Agreeable 45) Composed 48) Desperately need a bath 49) Khan's title 52) Rubble maker, big-time 53) Chinese restaurant quaff 55) Consume heartily 57) Spooky thing on the water 62) Ready and willing go-with 64) Bus rider's "coin" 65) Indication of a voicemaiI 66) One not using his brain 67) Made mistakes 68) Sign for the superstitious 69) Healthy type of bean (var.) 70) Little darlings 71) Be literate, in a way DOWN 1) Kind of cracker 2) File menu option 3) Read between the lines 4) Executing 5) Rodeo tool 6) Imitated at a zoo? 7) "Goldberg Variations" composer 8) Softly hit single 9) Producer of magazines or credit cards 10) Run away 11) Activity performed on a dude ranch 12) It could cause a death on the Nile 13) "___ will be done" 21) Namely 22) Place that exists to pamper 26) Not just this one or that one 27) "Meet Me ___ Louis" (1944 film) 30) Before, long before now 31) Arctic floating chunk 32) What a seller seeks 34) Shadow, in a whodunit 35) Common houseplant 36) French door part 38) Boss of a first lieut. 39) What one definitely isn't 40) Intellectually 41) Make it a new game 42) Emulating a newborn 46) In-flight info, for short 47) Not just dinged 49) Obeying a curfew 50) Kind of pig 51) Add supplementary materi- al to 54) "O come let us ___ Him" 56) Noted fur trader John Jacob 58) ___ carotene 59) Item of Creole cookery 60) "... and ___ the twain shall meet" 61) Stopping points 62) Showstoppers? 63) "I don't like your perfor- mance!" Davide Mazzotta appointed national team interim head coach DAVIDE Mazzotta has been ap- pointed interim head coach of the Malta men's senior national team. The Italian, who is making a return to the national team's set-up after serving as senior assistant coach for three years between 2020 and 2023, will take charge of Malta's remain- ing four games for this year. With three points from the opening two UEFA Na- tions League Group D2 out- ings, Malta face Moldova in a crunch qualifier at home on 13 October. The build-up for this impor- tant game includes a friendly match at the National Stadium against Turkmenistan on 10 October which will mark Maz- zotta's debut as interim coach. "I'm honoured to be leading the Malta squad for the up- coming international matches. I'm very motivated to use all my knowledge and experience to bring the best out of the players and help the squad per- form to the best of their indi- vidual and collective abilities," Mazzotta said commenting on his appointment. "My familiarity with the play- ers as well as the demands of international football makes me confident that, together, we can achieve the desired perfor- mance levels and results during this short period of time." Speaking on the appoint- ment, MFA President Bjorn Vassallo said he is a compe- tent coach who is well known to the squad. "The present situation made it imperative for us to appoint a coach who is familiar with the national team's set-up and Davide fits the bill perfect- ly as he was a key member of the technical set-up during his spell as senior assistant coach where his tactical expertise and football knowledge were greatly valued by players and technical staff members alike," Vassallo said. "We are happy that Davide accepted to take up this role and we are confident that together with his staff, he can leave a positive impact in the next two international win- dows." The Italian coach, whose last post was as Technical Collabo- rator at Serie B club US Saler- nitana 1919, will be assisted by Ernesto Javier Chevanton. A former Uruguay interna- tional who played at the top level with clubs like Monaco, Lecce, Atalanta and Sevilla, Chevanton, 44, was assistant coach of the Under-19 team of Lecce that won the Italian championship in 2022. The re- maining members of the staff from the previous setup will not change. The appointments of Maz- zotta and Chevanton were an- nounced on Tuesday during a meeting of the Malta FA's Ex- ecutive Board. Davide Mazzotta