Explained: Why Matt Turner is leaving USMNT camp early as ‘boss’ calls him back from international duty

USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner gives Arsenal mediocre Europa League performance against Sporting CP with questionable assertiveness | Goal.com

Matt Turner will not figure for the USMNT against Oman, with the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper being recalled from international duty by his “boss”.

Keeper played 90 minutes against Uzbekistan
Helped to pick up a clean sheet
Attention shifting away from sporting matters

WHAT HAPPENED?

The 29-year-old shot-stopper played the full 90 minutes for his country as they collected a 3-0 friendly victory over Uzbekistan. Turner starred in that contest, earning Player of the Match recognition, but is now leaving Gregg Berhalter’s squad.

THE BIGGER PICTURE
That is because his partner, former NFL cheerleader Ashley Herron, is due to give birth to the couple’s second child. Turner had to get permission to travel to St. Louis during the international break, but it will be a case of one and out for him as his focus shifts away from professional matters and back to personal ones.

WHAT THEY SAID

Turner, whose son Eaton was born in June 2022, has told the USMNT’s official media of why he is heading home early: “It was a clear message from the boss back home that I needed to make sure that if I was going to come, that I was going to make it worth it. A clean sheet and a win is all I could ask for. Now focused completely on the safe delivery of our baby girl into the world.”

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Turner is up to 33 caps for his country and is enjoying a productive 2023-24 campaign. Alongside the imminent birth of his baby daughter, he has also been celebrating regular first team football at club level after completing a summer transfer from Arsenal to Forest.

READ MORE:

Matt Turner urges USMNT to continue ‘sticking to the process’ after win over Uzbekistan
- USA defeated Uzbekistan 3-0 with in Gregg Berhalter’s first game back in charge
- Tim Weah opened the scoring early on with a brilliant strike
- USA faces Oman on another friendly on September 12
- Head coach Gregg Berhalter marked his return to the US men’s national team with an unconvincing 3-0 win over Uzbekistan.
  
  The Stars and Stripes found the opening goal in just the fourth minute with a stunning strike from Tim Weah, but unfortunately for Berhalter, it wasn’t a sign of things to come for his side.
  
  On paper, the United States dominated possession with 65%, but their opponents outshot them 15 to 13. Despite facing 13 shots, USMNT goalkeeper Matt Turner was still able to keep a clean sheet, making a few terrific saves in the process. Goals from Ricardo Pepi and Christian Pulisic sealed the win for the US in stoppage time.
- “You probably saw on camera a few times – I was pretty frustrated,” Turner said to TNT after the game. “We’re a good side, but we can’t just stroll up to games and expect to win. We are the US, after all. We’re going to get everyone’s best shot whenever they get the chance to play us. If we really want to get to where we want to go, we need to have better nights than we had tonight.”
  
  Tuner will leave the US camp and return to England to prepare for Nottingham Forest’s Premier League clash with Burnley, giving way for Inter Miami’s Drake Callender or fellow Forest teammate Ethan Horvath to start between the sticks.
  
  “It’s just cleaning up simple errors, sticking to the process,” Turner claimed. “I think you saw, if the fans were here for the first minute and the last minute of the game, you saw the process when it works its best. We did score three goals at the end of it and keep a clean sheet. So it’s definitely something to build off of. Because you have to be able to win when you don’t have it, as well as win when you do have it.”
  
  Berhalter also relayed some of the same sentiments, claiming that his side were careless with the ball on too many occassions.
  
  “You know, Uzbekistan doesn’t concede goals. I think they conceded maybe six all year last year,” said Berhalter. “And with the back five, 5-4-1, they’re very difficult to break down. So, happy with that part.
  
  “We gave the ball away in some tough spots. That was the first thing. The second thing is when we were building, and we were methodical about our build, trying to attract the opponent, I thought then we lacked the speeding up the attack once we broke through that front five, and that could have been better. A back five is always difficult to break down and you saw that they just dropped, and we wanted to get behind, and we didn’t do that often enough,” Berhalter added.
  
  The Stars and Stripes will take on Oman in another international friendly on September 12 at Allianz Field in St Paul, Minnesota.