Out of the photos Cher Ndour has kept on his smartphone, there is one of him holding the Italian flag, smiling and holding the Under 19 European Championships trophy. In his young career to date, Ndour is putting down many important markers: the Youth League won with Benfica, the victory in Malta, joining PSG, an influential player for the Under-21 National team, who are currently in Ireland preparing for their Euro 2025 qualifer on Tuesday in Cork (18:30 CET, live on RAI 2) ta Rai 2). "The Under 21s is the first step into the adult world of football and the last one before teh Men's senior team," he explained in an exclusive interview with RAI. "I hope to keep developing; wearing the Azzurri shirt is always a pride moment." 

Ndour, born in Brescia, and who has already been involved in training camps for players of national interest, left Italy at a very young age: from Atalanta, he moved to Benfica, "because I wanted a change. Atalanta's youth setup is one of the best in the country, but I had three magnificent years at Benfica". Considered by many as "the new Pogba", Cher - a Juventus fan - ranks the French player as one of his main idols, and has decided to continue his young career in France. "Seeing Mbappé so close up is remarkable; he does things you cannot explain. Instead, I'm loving working with Luis Enrique: we speak Italian and already in just a few months he has improved me loads". 

These improvements that Ndour is bringing to the table with the Under 21s: "We're a new set of players and have done really well to bounce back from the Latvia draw at the start of the qualifying campaign: 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". He is also hopeful and dreaming of a call-up to the First Team: "My dream is to make my debut and win a Euros or a World Cup". Returning to Italy to play club football is in his destiny, but not quite yet: "I feel good abroad. I had the chance to come back in the summer, but it's not part of my plans right now. I will one day, but I don't know where or when. The difference with Italy is that, besides Juventus and Atalanta, there are B teams at clubs abroad that allow you to develop and test yourselves against the first teams. My idea is join a club and stay there: I wouldn't like to go out on loan".  

Squad List

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)

 

UEFA EURO UNDER 21 2025 - GROUP A
Thursday 16 November
San Marino 0-7 Italy
Friday 17 November
Norway 3-2 Republic of Ireland

Tuesday 21 November
17.45 CET: Turkey vs. Norway
18.30 CET: Republic of Ireland vs. Italy (Cork)

Standings (games played): ITALY (4) 10, Norway and Republic of Ireland (4) 9, Latvia (5) 7, Turkey (4) 3, San Marino (4) 0

ITALY'S SCHEDULE
Friday 22 March 2024: Italy vs. Latvia
Tuesday 26 March 2024: Italy vs. Turkey
Thursday 5 September 2024: Italy vs. San Marino
Tuesday 10 September 2024: Norway vs. Italy
Tuesday 15 October 2024: Italy vs. Republic of Ireland

Classifica (tra parentesi le gare giocate): ITALIA (4) 10, Norvegia (4) e Irlanda (4) 9, Lettonia (5) 7, Turchia (4) 3, San Marino (4) 0

IL CALENDARIO DELL'ITALIA
Venerdì 22 marzo 2024: Italia-Lettonia
Martedì 26 marzo: Italia-Turchia
Giovedì 5 settembre: Italia-San Marino
Martedì 10 settembre: Norvegia-Italia
Martedì 15 ottobre: Italia-Irlanda