Nottingham Forest have a number of current and former players at the World Cup this summer.
Nottingham Forest have six players at the World Cup, which is the most they’ve ever had at tournament.
Forest fans will also be keeping tabs on some of their former players, with the likes of Remo Freuler and Moussa Niakhate playing for their respective nations.
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The Tricky Trees also have a former defender playing for one of the tournament favourites Argentina, and he featured alongside Lionel Messi last night.
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Lionel Messi spares Gonzalo Montiel’s blushes
Gonzalo Montiel plied his trade for Nottingham Forest during the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
Montiel made 19 appearances under Steve Cooper and Nuno Espirito Santo before returning to his parent club Sevilla.
The 29-year-old is now at River Plate and is still being selected for the Argentinian national team, although he didn’t play particularly well last night.
Montiel started in Argentina’s 3-0 win against Algeria, however, he was subbed off at half-time after a shaky start.
Seleccion Argentina wrote: “His lack of rhythm was evident in Chaibi’s disallowed goal and his subsequent foul just outside his own penalty area.
“He made a good tackle in the heart of the box after a cross from the right and intercepted a Boudaoui dribble that was heading straight for a one-on-one with Dibu. He did not return for the second half.”
Fotmob also criticised the former Forest full-back.
“Lucky that the offside flag went up because his marking for what would’ve been Algeria’s opener was dreadful. After a nightmare start where fouling was his only solution to contain Rayan Aït-Nouri, the River Plate man eventually settled.”
Goal saw the game differently and noted that Montiel came off as part of a planned substitution.
“The River Plate star had a strong first half with five defensive contributions but was substituted after 46 minutes as part of a planned decision.”
Anyhow, Montiel’s blushes were spared as Messi scored his first-ever hat-trick at a World Cup to seal the three points in the opening match of the group stages.
Argentina are back in action on Monday against Austria, so it’ll be interesting to see if Montiel gets the nod to start again.
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