AUSTIN — With 18 saves at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, Matt Turner has been one of the key contributors to the United States' run to the semifinals.
Turner obtained his third clean sheet of the tournament in the 1-0 quarterfinal win over Jamaica. His performance bought time for his team until the 83rd-minute game-winner arrived from Matthew Hoppe.
"From the back, I think early on, we struggled a bit with the pace," Turner told Concacaf.com about the challenges presented by Jamaica. "But we were able to battle through it and keep it at 0-0 getting into halftime. From there, our tempo, our fitness, all that stuff was really good and it showed and we broke it down late in the game."
The U.S. goalkeeper ended Sunday night with six saves against Jamaica. It's the most saves he's been forced to make during this edition, up until this point, but the New Jersey-native would expect nothing less as the tournament inches closer to crowning a champion.
"In knockout football, anything is possible, you need to be ready for anything," said Turner. "We knew it was going to be a challenging night and we were up to the task."
The next opponent for the U.S. will be one it has never faced before at the Gold Cup. AFC Asian Cup champions Qatar has reached the semifinals after defeating El Salvador 3-2 in their quarterfinal, which increased its scoring tally to a tournament-high of 12 goals.
"They've been scoring a lot of goals this tournament and we're going to be playing outdoors in Austin. It's going to be hot, that's something that they're used to already," Turner mentioned of Qatar. "It's a quick turnaround, but we're looking forward to Thursday."
One win separates the U.S. from playing for its seventh Gold Cup title. Turner knows that all he can do is continue to make it hard for opponents to score.
"As a goalkeeper, you can only do what's presented to you," Turner said. "I'm just gonna be patient. Let the game come to me."
