Former Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini joins the Irish U21 setup as goalkeeping coach

There will be a familiar face in the dugout when Ireland's U21s play Andorra on Thursday.

Former Chelsea number one Carlo Cudicini has assumed the role of goalkeeping coach for Noel King's side after Alan O'Neill retired from his post. The Italian worked on his UEFA B licence with the FAI and his experience will be a welcome introduction to the U21s in their quest for qualification to the U21 European Championships. “Carlo Cudicini is coming in to the do the goalkeepers initially. We’ll see how it goes and work together to try and win the game obviously,” said head coach King. “His experience will be a great help to us. It won’t be just goalkeeping – we’ll include him as we do with all our staff in the preparation. We’ll value his views and hopefully that’ll add strength to us. “We’re thankful to Alan O’Neill who has been with us and the Association for a great number of years and has been a great servant. Alan’s been recognised for that by the FAI with a presentation in Abbotstown so we’re happy with that. He has to move on due to work commitments and we’ll look forward to a successful time with Carlo.”