Nottingham Forest lost 3-2 to Atromitos in Athens yesterday but Gustavo Scarpa made quite the impression on his debut. The Brazilian checked in at the City Ground last week and made an instant impact.
The Reds once again chose to experiment with their starting line-ups. The first half featured a team that was relatively strong, with the second half the chance for Steve Cooper to give some youngsters a run.
The two line-ups were as follows:
Nottingham Forest v Atromitos first half
Henderson, Aurier, Worrall, Cook, Lodi, Colback, Yates, Scarpa, Lingard, Dennis, Awoniyi
Nottingham Forest v Atromitos second half
Henderson, Mbe Soh, McKenna, Boly, Toffolo, Bade, Mangala, O’Brien, Gibbs-White, Surridge, Awoniyi
It was perhaps the inclusion of Scarpa straight in from the off that caused the most shock. He only signed a few days ago and headed straight out to Athens with his new Forest teammates.
The 28-year-old is on the back of a fantastic campaign with Palmeiras where he won the Golden Ball as the best player in the division.
He scored 13 goals and claimed 15 assists as Palmeiras claimed the league title and Scarpa really came of age as a player.
Now, he’s Forest’s new recruit and he will be hoping to make a big impact on the Premier League in the near future.
Scarpa makes impact on Forest debut
Reds supporters have been told that Scarpa has a wonderful left foot and he highlighted that against Atromitos.
He claimed two assists on his debut performance, with his delivery from corner kicks particularly impressive.
Scarpa will of course need to prove himself in the Premier League but this was a fantastic first outing in a Forest shirt.
The talented player looks exciting and given his character, it would seem that he will give everything to become a Forest success.