Italians feeling Cork chill but 'new Pogba' wants Cross shutout

The Italian head coach is wary of a home side with "one or two quality players". 

NEW POGBA: Cher Ndour: Has made three Ligue 1 appearances for PSG. Pic: Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images

Italy U21 head coach Carmine Nunziata hasn't yet acclimatised to Cork conditions, but won't tolerate any excuses from his players when his table toppers face Ireland in Turner's Cross Tuesday evening. 

The Italian party flew in from Bologna on Sunday and is holed up at the Rochestown Park Hotel in the city suburb, training at the match venue on Sunday and Monday evenings. 

Having surprisingly dropped points with a scoreless draw in their Group A opener in Latvia, Italy bounced back with wins over Norway and Turkey. And Nunziata's side put seven past San Marino on Friday, while Ireland slipped to defeat in Norway.

But the former Torino midfielder is feeling the chill on Leeside and wary of a home side with "one or two quality players". 

“Every game, for us, is fundamental," he told Italian TV channel RAI, which is screening the match live. "We are at the top but there are still six games to go. We have already given away two points and we can’t afford to give away any more: the lads know that we can’t slip up our approach. 

"The conditions will be different, colder and windier, but these things mustn’t become excuses.

“We hoped to arrive at this game at the top of the table. We are first and now we have to try to stay there, in a difficult group. 

“We need to try to bring the same game on Tuesday, with all due respect to San Marino, against a stronger opponent. Ireland lost in Norway, playing a good game. Especially at home, they are an opposition that comes down on you hard, with one or two quality players. We need to play as a team, with great intensity."

Leeds forward Wilfried Gnonto hobbled off against San Marino but is understood to remain in contention to face Ireland, but Juventus defender Riccardo Turicchia is a doubt with an ankle complaint.  Roma's Edoardo Bove is available again.

It is the third campaign in succession that the countries meet in U21 qualification. October 2019 saw a goalless draw in Tallaght with Stephen Kenny's Ireland in which Troy Parrott and Moise Kean were sent off for clashing. The Italians won the return 2-0 in Pisa. In the last qualification campaign, Italy beat Jim Crawford's side twice, 2-0 in Tallaght and 4-1 in Ascoli.

One to keep an eye on at the Cross will be "the new Pogba", Cher Ndour, who has attracted constant comparisons to the French midfield giant. The 19-year-old switched from Benfica to Paris Saint Germain in the summer, having been linked with Manchester United, and has made three Ligue 1 appearances so far this season.

He told RAI: "Seeing Mbappé so close up is remarkable; he does things you cannot explain. I'm loving working with Luis Enrique: we speak Italian and already in just a few months he has improved me loads.

“My dream is to make my debut for the senior Italy squad, then to win a European Championship or World Cup. As for club level, I had the opportunity to return to Italy over the summer, but at this moment it is not in my plans. I will one day.

"We're a new set of players and have done really well to bounce back from the Latvia draw. Having not yet conceded a single goal so far in the group stages is a massive achievement and testimony to the togetherness we have inside the changing room. We want to end 2023 top of the group, before getting back to action in March."

ITALY U21s -  Goalkeepers: Sebastiano Desplanches (Palermo), Jacopo Sassi (Pro Vercelli), Gioele Zacchi (Giana Erminio) 

Defenders: Tommaso Barbieri (Pisa), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Diego Coppola (Verona), Daniele Ghilardi (Sampdoria), Samuel Giovane (Ascoli), Gabriele Guarino (Empoli), Lorenzo Pirola (Salernitana), Riccardo Turicchia (Juventus), Mattia Zanotti (Sankt Gallen) 

Midfielders: Alessandro Bianco (Reggiana), Edoardo Bove (Roma), Cesare Casadei (Leicester), Giovanni Fabbian (Bologna), Jacopo Fazzini (Empoli), Cher Ndour (Paris Saint Germain), Matteo Prati (Cagliari) 

Forwards: Giuseppe Ambrosino (Catanzaro), Francesco Pio Esposito (Spezia), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds United), Luca Koleosho (Burnley), Cristian Volpato (Sassuolo)