Nottingham Forest defender Gonzalo Montiel managed a rare start for Argentina last night but it didn’t go according to plan. The defender who has found game time tricky of late, played just 30 minutes before injury struck.
The right-back was handed the chance to start the game by boss Lionel Scaloni. It was his first outing for Argentina since March and played a very small part in his country beating Peru 2-0.
Montiel’s night ended in disappointment for him and for Forest. It’s not clear what the injury is but he was withdrawn by his international boss after just 30 minutes and now he’ll be assessed by the Reds.
This isn’t good news, although Forest are somewhat well-stocked in the right-back department. The 26-year-old played well in the second half against Crystal Palace, however, and almost scored in the 0-0 draw.
He’d have hoped to get some more minutes under his belt last night and then return to Forest ready to play against Luton. Now, he will need an assessment to see if an outing this weekend is possible after last night
On the performance of Forest defender Montiel, TyC Sports claimed: “He played the first half hour until he was injured. Correct to score and insistent to attack.”
The Reds are about to embark on a run of tough games. Montiel was signed by Forest in the summer from Sevilla and Steve Cooper will hope that he can recover from this and it proves nothing more than a niggle.
This was a desperately frustrating night for Montiel. He’d have been keen to showcase what he’s capable of with Argentina once again but instead, the night ended up in frustration for the Forest man.
Montiel scored the winning penalty in the World Cup Final and the Europa League Final. He’s a man for the big occasion and Forest will now face an anxious wait to find out how long he’s set to miss.