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SBI USMNT Man of the Match: Matt Turner

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Matt Turner has statistically been one of the best goalkeepers at the Concacaf Gold Cup and the New England Revolution No. 1 showed exactly why in Thursday’s semifinal round.

Turner made a pair of key first half saves for the U.S. men’s national team,  earning SBI USMNT Man of the Match honors in a 1-0 victory over Qatar. The New Jersey native also stood firm during a second half penalty kick, watching as Qatar captain Hassan Al Haidos sky his effort over the bar.

The 25-year-old’s first top save came in the opening 20 minutes after James Sands’ deflection looked ready to fall in the bottom-left corner. Turner dove to his right and got a fingertip to save the effort.

Turner was at it again in the 21st minute, diving to his left to repel Abdelaziz Hatim’s effort from finding the bottom-right corner. A deflected pass from Akram Afif fell to the wide open Hatim, but he could only watch as Turner denied him from close range.

While Turner won’t get credited for a save on the penalty kick miss by Hassan Al Haidos in the 61st minute, he did stand firm to force a mis-kick from the Qatar midfielder.

Turner watched the rest of the way as substitutes Nicholas Gioacchini and Gyasi Zardes combined to score the winning goal for the USMNT in the 81st minute.

Turner’s performance forced him slightly ahead of Zardes, Miles Robinson, and Matthew Hoppe for Man of the Match honors.

What did you think of Turner’s performance? Who was your pick for Man of the Match?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Having watched the GC tournament, minus the final, thus far, I personally believe that Matt Turner is the best shot-blocker among Steffen and Horvath. I will have to admit that Sam Vines’ performances have won me over. I wouldn’t have said the same after watching Vines during the U-23 Olympic Qualifying merely 2 months ago. Shaq Moore has performed quite well during the group stage, but as the US moved into the knockout rounds, Moore’s shortcomings on the offensive side exposed consistently. Miles Robinson in my opinion has emerged as the #2 CB starting next to John Brooks, ahead of Long, McKenzie, Richards, Miazga, Zimmerman, etc. Hoppe, Acosta, Lletget, Sands, Vines, Gioacchini, Williamson, Busio have shown that they are worthy of part of the 23-30 player squad during the Sept WCQ cycle.

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  2. Nice to have 3 solid keepers in Steffen, Horvath and Turner. While the Gold Cup hasn’t been the prettiest football it’s definitely helping shape final pieces for the enlarged qualifying rosters. Winning the Gold Cup would be quite an accomplishment with our C team

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  3. Agree completely with Turner as MOTM but Gioacchini has gotten very little mention as runner up. Zardes did a great job scoring but Gioacchini did the heavy lifting.

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  4. Well, even if we don’t win the final on Sunday, at least we’ll win the award for most lateral and backward passes in the tournament.

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  5. My guess is that Turner will be in Europe this season although any team picking him up will see him gone for the WCQ matches.

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    • It won’t be a problem for an European club that he Will travel to play WCQ-matches, because in Europe they have international breaks from league games when the national teams play.

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  6. Well, I thought the last game he should have shared the award and pointed out that he seems to be as good as our European GK’s, so I agree with this selection. Hew has been one of the biggest pluses for the US this tournament.

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    • 4. Turner 5. Turner 6. Turner’s left hand 7. Turner’s right hand …and Matt has 1 more clean sheet to make! Go USA

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