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21 Sport FOOTBALL maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2016 Air disasters involving soccer teams Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense were on board a plane that crashed in Colombia killing 76 people, police said on Tuesday. Chapecoense had been flying in to face Atletico Nacional of Medellin in the first leg of Wednesday's Copa Sudamericana fi- nal, South America's equivalent of the Europa League. The following are other air disasters which have involved football teams: 1949: The plane carrying Italian club side Torino back from a match against Benfica in Lisbon crashed into the Superga hill during its approach to Turin airport. All 31 on board were killed including the 18-strong squad, devastating the finest team in the club's history. Shortly afterwards, Torino went on to win a fifth Serie A title in a row, although they have only it once since then, in 1975/76. 1958: Eight Manchester United players were among 23 people killed when their plane crashed on takeoff from Munich fol- lowing a technical stop. The flight was taking them back to Manchester from a European Cup match in Belgrade. The 21 survivors included Bobby Charlton who was 20 at the time and went on to become one of England's finest players, winning the World Cup in 1966. 1960: Eight Danish footballers, on their way to a trial to select the Denmark team for the Rome Olympic Games soccer tour- nament, were killed when their plane crashed into the Oresund strait after takeoff from Copenhagen. Denmark went on to win the silver medal. 1969: Players from Bolivian team The Strongest were among 78 people killed when the flight carrying them from the lowland city of Santa Cruz crashed at Viloco, near La Paz. 1979: Seventeen players and coaching officials from Pakhtakor Tashkent were among 178 killed when the flight taking them to a Soviet league match at Dinamo Minsk was involved in a mid- air collision over what is now Ukraine. Pakhtakor were the only team from present day Uzbekistan to play in the top flight of the Soviet league. 1987: Sixteen players from Peruvian league leaders Alianza Lima, plus officials and coaching stuff, were among 43 killed when a flight bringing them back from a championship match in Pucallpa crashed on approach to Lima airport. Only the cap- tain survived. 1989: Fourteen Dutch footballers of Surinamese heritage were among 176 people killed when Surinam Airways flight 764 crashed on its approach to Paramaribo after a flight from Am- sterdam. The footballers played for different professional teams in the Netherlands and had formed a team called "The Colour- ful 11" to play exhibition matches against local side in the South American country. 1993: All 30 people on board a chartered Zambian Air Force flight, including 18 players from the country's national team, were killed when it crashed into the sea off the coast of Gabon shortly after taking off following a refuelling stop. The team was on its way to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier. Kalusha Bwalya, the team captain and now president of the Zambia football federation, was not on board as he was travel- ling to the game separately. In 2012, Zambia won the African Nations Cup for the only time, beating Ivory Coast on penalties in a final played at in Libreville just a few kilometres from the crash site. THE 46-year-old's position will be ratified during a Football Association board meeting, al- though an official announcement is unlikely to be immediate, Press Association Sport understands. Southgate has been in interim charge since replacing Sam Al- lardyce in September after the former manager left following just 67 days in charge after being caught up in a Daily Telegraph investigation into corruption in football. As late as September, while Al- lardyce was still in charge, South- gate - then Under-21 boss - said he did not feel ready for the senior job when it was available in the summer following Roy Hodgson's exit after a dismal Euro 2016. The FA will also discuss South- gate's backroom team with the future of Chelsea coach Steve Holland on the table and reports suggest the 46-year-old will be handed a full-time role with the senior national side. Southgate spoke to a five-man panel at St George's Park last Monday after the end of his in- terim reign. FA chairman Greg Clarke, chief executive Martin Glenn and tech- nical director Dan Ashworth, former England player Graeme Le Saux and League Managers' Association chairman Howard Wilkinson were all involved. While it was billed as an inter- view it was more of a discussion about Southgate's vision of the England team going forward. Glenn had previously con- firmed Southgate was in a strong position and that the former Middlesbrough manager wanted the job. During his brief tenure South- gate has already had to deal with controversy with captain Wayne Rooney pictured mingling with guests at The Grove, where Eng- land were based, during his free time following the 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Scotland. Newspaper reports suggested the skipper was drunk and made an unscheduled appearance at a wedding reception, with chief executive Glenn promising an investigation into the conduct of all players and staff during their free time. Press Association Sport under- stands that the player's repre- sentatives have been in contact with the FA and are assured no disciplinary action will be taken against him. The Manchester United striker denied he had been at a wedding, although he did apologise to Southgate and the FA. Southgate was unbeaten in his four games - winning two and drawing two - including this month's win over Scotland which left England top of Group F as they bid to reach Russia 2018. England also beat Malta and drew in Slovenia before a 2-2 friendly draw with Spain in Southgate's last game, as the Three Lions lost a 2-0 lead late on at Wembley. The FA must also look at the age group set ups with Under-20 manager Aidy Boothroyd having temporarily stepped up to replace Southgate with the Under-21s. Boothroyd won his two games in charge to help them qualify for Euro 2017 in Poland with the draw made in Krakow on Thurs- day. Gareth Southgate's appointment as England manager is expected to be rubber stamped today FA to confirm Southgate Gareth Southgate will be confirmed as England manager today Barca captain Iniesta fit for Clasico BARCELONA captain Andres Iniesta is available to play against Real Madrid in the first Clasico of the season on Saturday at the Nou Camp, coach Luis Enrique said on Tuesday. The 32-year-old midfielder dam- aged knee ligaments last month and returned to training on Friday. "Andres is waiting to be given the all clear by the doctors but this is just a formality. He is fit and he has been training with us," Luis En- rique told a news conference. "He is available for selection." The Spain international missed Sunday's 1-1 draw at Real Socie- dad, a result that left Barca six points adrift of La Liga leaders Real Madrid, who are unbeaten in 31 games in all competitions. Iniesta will not travel to Alicante for Barca's King's Cup round of 32 first-leg match against Hercules on Wednesday. "Andres is not playing tomorrow because he is banned but had he been available, he would have had minutes," Luis Enrique said. Sunday's result in San Sebastian was Barca's second successive draw in La Liga. "It's obvious that we need to improve, that we need more con- sistent but I don't see any signs to worry me too much," Luis Enrique said. "The team is well and we got a point at La Real. We are still fa- vourites to win all the titles but it's clear that we have to improve. "We, the players and I, are aware of that and are the first to admit that. We've had good games but we've lacked consistency as the results show. But I wouldn't exag- gerate. "Remember that in my first year (2014-15) the press also exaggerat- ed with our results and we went on to win the treble (La Liga, King's Cup and the Champions League)." Andres Iniesta In 1949 the plane carrying Italian club side Torino back from a match against Benfica in Lisbon crashed into the Superga hill during its approach to Turin airport