When you look at a lot of No. 1 international goalkeepers, most of them are also starters at club level, however Matt Turner is a rare exception for the U.S. men’s national team.
Turner recently completed his first season with English Premier League side Nottingham Forest, jumping right into Steve Cooper’s squad during the first half of the campaign before also featuring under Nuno Espírito Santo’s early time with the club in 2024.
However, Matz Sels arrival at the club last January eventually forced Turner to the bench, a spot where he remained for every league match from February 4 to May 19’s season finale.
Turner did feature in Forest’s final three FA Cup matches in January and February, while also logging 210 minutes in the USMNT’s March CONCACAF Nations League triumphs over Jamaica and Mexico. Now he’s back with Gregg Berhalter’s squad seeking to reclaim his No. 1 spot and play a vital role in pre-Copa America friendlies vs. Colombia and Brazil before the start of the tournament on June 23.
“I approach training every single day with the same mentality, whether I’m playing or whether I’m not,” Turner said in a press conference. “I work really, really hard. I try to get better in every area that I can and just be ready. I prepare for games as if I’m going to be playing, as exhausting as that can be; that hope that maybe my name will be on the team sheet for that game, even though when I know probably in the back of my mind it’s not. I prepare like maybe it will be. What if it is?
“So I try to just maintain that level of professionalism every single day, every training session and just keep going and understanding that obviously if I want to keep this shirt here, I’ve got to perform when I come here,” he added. “So I have to stay engaged, I have to stay ready and focused and driven.”
While Turner struggled for consistent minutes during Forest’s 2024 schedule, Ethan Horvath did not….
Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/05/matt-turner-committed-to-usmnt-no-1-job-despite-backup-club-role
Author : Larry Henry Jr
Publish date : 2024-05-30 14:29:17
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