It’s been a week to remember for Nottingham Forest star Matz Sels as he’s turned his attention to Belgium duty. With Koen Casteels and Thibaut Courtois injured, the 32-year-old has stepped into the breach for his country.
Several Forest players have been away on international duty over the past week or so. There have been some highs and lows for the Forest stars called up by their countries and Sels had done extremely well.
The goalkeeper was signed by Forest on transfer deadline day during the January transfer window. Following a number of high-profile errors by Matt Turner, the head coach opted to bring in another stopper.
Sels joined the club for £5 million from Strasbourg. His performances for Forest have earned him a shot between the posts for Belgium – although he’s not likely to retain the gloves for Euro 2024.
Still, he’s done his chances of making the cut in terms of the squad no harm at all. He saved a penalty against the Republic of Ireland on Saturday and last night, Rob Green praised Forest man Sels for his performance against England.
Crucially, however, Sels appears to have impressed Belgium head coach Domenico Tedesco. After last night’s game, he was quizzed on the Forest man who has started the last two games.
What Belgium boss Tedesco has said about Forest star Sels
Well, it was certainly a game that Sels will never forget. He made five saves during the clash but was powerless to prevent Jude Bellingham from grabbing a 95th-minute equaliser for the hosts.
Forest star Sels has now made nine appearances for Belgium and he will be craving more outings for his country. Tedesco was extremely impressed with the player’s showing and he had no doubts he’d perform well.
After the game, the head coach told Nieuwsblad: “Sels did fantastic, just like in the previous matches. He didn’t have to prove anything because I always believed in him.
“Koen Casteels is also a very good goalkeeper. He wasn’t there today. I wanted to let him play. But as I have said many times before, we really have no problem in goal.”
Sels must now focus on helping his club survive
It’s always nice to see Reds players do well on international duty. For Forest star Sels, it’s proved a very successful international break and now he has proved to his head coach what he can do.
All he can do at this stage is stay in the best shape possible at Forest and keep performing. Sels is firmly established as the number one and that will continue for the remainder of the campaign.
Forest look to have got a decent stopper in Sels. It’s great to see him turning out for a nation the size of Belgium and now it should be a big confidence boost that he’s received the backing of the national team boss.
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