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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2016 20 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Pioli becomes Inter Milan's ninth coach in six years INTER Milan appointed jour- neyman Stefano Pioli on Tuesday as their ninth coach in the last six years, his first managerial role with one of Italy's top three clubs. The 51-year-old, who has coached 10 clubs in Italy's top two divisions without winning a major trophy, replaced Dutch- man Frank de Boer who was fired last week after 85 days and 14 competitive games in charge. Inter, enduring their fifth con- secutive season without Cham- pions League football, confirmed the appointment in a statement. "FC Internazionale is delighted to confirm that terms have been agreed with Stefano Pioli to be- come Inter's new head coach un- til June 30, 2018," the club said. In his previous job, Pioli led Lazio to a third-place finish Serie A in 2014-15 but was less success- ful last season and was fired in April after an embarrassing 4-1 defeat by neighbours AS Roma. Inter, AC Milan and Juventus are considered to be Italy's big- gest three clubs, although neither of the Milan sides have won a Se- rie A title since 2011. A central defender in his play- ing days, Pioli's first job as head coach was with Serie B side Saler- nitana in 2003. He moved to Modena, another second-tier side the following year, and got his first chance in the top f light with Parma in 2006. He was sacked after six months with the team one place of the bottom and went back to Serie B where he coached Grosseto, Pia- cenza and Sassuolo. Chievo brought him back to Serie A in 2010 and he moved to Palermo the following year but lasted just 90 days at the notori- ously volatile club. Next stop was Bologna and he kept them in Serie A during two difficult seasons before moving to Lazio. Inter won the Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Ita- lia treble under Jose Mourinho in 2010 but have not been able to recapture that sort of form since, often languishing in mid-table. Chinese electronics retailer Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd bought nearly 70 percent of In- ter for 270 million euros (240.51 million pound) in June, less than three years after the club had previously been sold to a consor- tium led by Indonesian business tycoon Erick Thohir. Previously, the club were owned by Massimo Moratti, whose fam- ily controls Italian oil refiner Saras, from 1995 to 2013. Stefano Pioli England to watch Gazza clip in build-up to Scotland clash ENGLAND players will be shown video clips of previous clashes against Scotland in the build-up to Friday's World Cup qualifier, including Paul Gascoigne's mem- orable goal and equally unforget- table celebration at Euro 96. Interim manager Gareth South- gate, who played in that 'Gazza' inspired 2-0 victory at Wembley 20 years ago, has asked the Foot- ball Association to compile some of the greatest moments from the world's oldest international fix- ture. "We should embrace the emo- tion of the occasion," Southgate said in the build-up to the first competitive clash between Eng- land and Scotland since 1999. "The clips are from previous Scotland games. We have some black and white stuff, that I'm not in, it's been really nicely done." While the lustre of the fixture, once a yearly occasion, has faded in recent decades, the 113th meet- ing at Wembley on Friday will stir up old passions with tens of thou- sands of Scottish fans likely to de- scend on London. Southgate has stressed the im- portance of emotional control but is unlikely to have to resort to the methods employed to calm down the irrepressible Gascoigne. Speaking at a news conference he recalled how the hyper-active former Newcastle United, Totten- ham Hotspur and Lazio midfield maverick, then at Scottish giants Rangers, took to pretend fishing in the Wembley bath in 1996. "Bryan (Robson) made him a fishing rod," Southgate said, refer- ring to England's assistant coach. "They created something out of the medical skip and he was pre- tend fishing in the bath -- God knows what he was actually fish- ing for. "Fishing was the only time he ever relaxed. He used to go with (goalkeeper) David Seaman dur- ing the week in the afternoon just to get himself out of everybody's hair." Gascoigne's goal, flicking the ball over Scotland defender Colin Hendry's head with his left foot before lashing a volley past keeper Andy Goram with his right, was the abiding memory of Euro 96 for England who lost on penalties to Germany in the semi-finals. In celebration 'Gazza' laid down while team mates squirted water down his throat, recreating the infamous 'dentist's chair' night during the build-up to the tourna- ment when some England players were involved in a booze-fuelled session in Hong Kong. Southgate "swerved" the Hong Kong controversy on the advice of team mate Stuart Pearce. "He said, 'In my experience of England if you go out for a drink it's as if nobody had ever drunk before'. Sometimes advice like that is good," Southgate said. Paul Gascoigne celebrates his goal