Matt Turner is playing for the first time in his sophomore season. It's a miracle he made it to Division I soccer after only three years. The secret among the Stags last year was to kick the ball out of bounds or bomb it forward so that they wouldn't pass it to Turner.
He is a great shot-stop. Turner's goalkeeping coach said there was something innate about his ability to save. He ended up on the field at Iona College despite being on the depth chart.
In the 72nd minute, a laser from 30 yards out went off the bar and into the air. Turner tries to catch the ball as it comes back to Earth. He misses a shot.
His goal was hit by the ball.
He held his head while laying face down. As if the scorekeeper couldn't believe it, the horn blares. The whole thing takes only seconds.
Turner gets the ball out of the net as Jon Clements pats him on the butt. Turner taps the bar to center himself after sending the ball towards the middle. Turner knows that there is still a game being played, and that goalkeepers need a short memory. He needs to get on with his life.
It's difficult to move on when the world knows about it. Roger Bennett calls it a Shakespearean tragedy. The Butt Fumble was shown on Not Top 10.
Turner says he can't believe people are saying things about him that he can't believe. It couldn't have been worse for me, I had sacrificed so much for that opportunity. I was in a bad place for a while.
Turner wanted to play soccer. They had taken a chance on his talent, so he chose them. His newfound passion seemed to have soured overnight.
Turner is going to be sat down before the next game. They told him that he wouldn't play the rest of the season, and that they wanted him to focus on his mental health.
Turner said his coaches knew he had changed. It was if they felt my aura was off.
Turner got his transfer clearance and thought he might quit soccer or start over somewhere else. His father said that he did a lot of soul-searching and came out stronger.
Turner decided to stop reading things on the internet about him. It was the love I felt for the game that would define me.
He was a goalie for the New England Revolution. He was the best goalkeeper in the league by the year 2021. The English premier league is the most competitive and revered league in the world. The US men are going to the World Cup for the first time in eight years.
The U.S. men played their first game against Wales on Monday. Wales didn't get a shot on goal until the 64th minute, when Turner touched a point-blank headed fromBen Davies over the bar. The sound of Turner's gloves hitting the ball was picked up by microphones.
"When he was needed to make a good play, he did," said a Fox commentator. I thought he was doing well.
He may not have been tested enough. He hasn't played much behind the English national team goal keeper. Turner could follow in the footsteps of American goalkeeping greats.
Turner wants to show himself on the international stage. I've never said that before, but I feel I deserve to play.
The hometown of Turner is Park Ridge, New Jersey. He used to play goal against his sisters when he was younger, just for fun. When his son was just starting out, he couldn't hit a Whiffle Ball to save his life.
He's a righty and throws righty. He'sstruggling and struggling. I don't know if it was something he saw on TV, but he just started hitting one after another.
Turner says he could always watch and do better. Someone could swing a golf club like them.
Turner was a second-team all-league soccer player at St. Joseph Regional after making the soccer team as a junior. Two Division III coaches left mid-game.
Turner was trying to get his coaches to take a flyer on him while he was in the USMNT. There is a highlight tape. Turner was invited to an ID camp by Decima after seeing him at a club tournament.
Turner isn't sure if he put a foot wrong all weekend. On Monday, they offered a spot. I gave up baseball because my mom was crushed.
About 1% of U.S. men's high school soccer players made it to Division I. Turner was an exception without the conventional soccer and only a year and a half as a starter.
Decima said he was quick. He could come for everything. You might be able to see something. Do you think you're athletic? What do you think about reactions? Can you tell me about quick feet? You can teach technique, but not that one.
Turner kicked the balls into the net by himself until the lights went out and he couldn't get up to speed. He spent the summer between his freshman and sophomore years in Brazil training at the Desportivo Brasil academy, which was used to connect him to an executive at the company.
A lack of experience was overshadowing Turner. I didn't know how to level it. In Brazil, I was about to turn 19, my first time in a professional environment, and they told me that they thought he could play professionally in his domestic country.
Joe Martin was signed to a scholarship. Turner said he had been told he was the front runner for the job. He says that the fire under him was caused by that.
The NCAA did not clear Martin until the first game. Turner finally got a chance at Iona when Martin was struggling. TheBlunder came next.
Turner led the Jersey Express to the national semifinals of the premier development league. He had an.886 save percentage and 13 shutouts in the fall. He didn't go to the MLS Combine despite being tied for the most cleansheets in school history.
Turner said that being overlooked was a theme. I thought I'd train hard, knock on doors overseas and try to get a job.
Turner was put on the radar by a former MLS player. The Revs named Brad Friedel their head coach in the year after Turner signed. Turner was immediately taken to by him.
Friedel says that he was a great shot-stop. "Not just the best that we had at the club, but I could see his quality compared to goaltenders around the world." People looked at me like I had 10 heads when I said he should be looked at for the national team.
Turner was named the starter by Friedel by year's end. Turner gained international attention with his size and athletic ability while working with Revolution goalkeeper coach Kevin Hitchock.
Turner prevented more goals from being scored than any other MLS goalie. He was among the top three in saves and allowed the least goals.
Turner didn't make his USM NT debut until early 2021. He won the Golden Gloves and MLS Goalkeeper of the Year awards after leading the U.S. to a gold cup win.
United was looking at him. They were as well. Three of the world's most prestigious clubs were sad for the kid from northern New Jersey who once wanted to be the Yankees' captain.
Walker says there's an "underdog mentality" from MLS. It's crazy to think you can make it to high school and play a sport. He is the epitome of an underestimation.
Turner and Herron met in a dive in Southie.
She ran a nonprofit for breast cancer survivors and studied business management at Harvard. They shared a locker at the stadium.
Herron doesn't think we'd be in the position we're in now if it weren't for Covid. We were given the time to get to know each other.
Turner was in Nashville in August of last year for the first match of the World Cup qualification campaign for the US. Turner was an important stonewall for the team known for them: Tony Meola, Kasey Keller, Friedel, Tim Howard.
Herron was ten weeks pregnant when she lived in Boston. Turner got a call one night saying she had a baby.
Turner said that she felt so guilty that she wasn't there. I didn't have hers, she had my back. I intended on going to sleep that night so I wouldn't have to tell him.
Turner ran into his coach after stepping out of an elevator.
Turner recalls that he was told by the coach that he was going to start because he couldn't play. Let's go, you're ready.
Turner cried in his room as he watched herron. He was going to come home. She said he needed to play because he had worked too hard.
Herron wanted to support him as much as possible. I wanted him there completely. I wanted him to know that we were going to channel strength from God and from our baby, because it was the size of a berry.
They were going to put their pieces back together.
Turner feels lost. You have no idea how to help. I didn't have the same routine or emotional connection to the games as I did. My performances for the Revs showed that.
Turner was attempting to negotiate with the Revolution. He knew he was on the list. Turner said that a new contract from New England was on the table when a transfer offer came through. A new family was reeling from the loss of a loved one.
They found out Herron was pregnant again. The transfer was completed in February. Turner broke his foot a week after he joined the club.
Turner said that God works in funny ways. When he deems you fit, he will slow you down. I had time to sit with my new wife. I had time to think about everything.
Herron enters the living room off-screen and holds their baby. He had been in the NICU for three days after he was born. Doctors are confident that he will have a long, beautiful life despite the fact that he will probably need surgery down the road. Easton had to get a medical clearance and a vaccine before he could go.
Turner excuses himself and throws the phone in the air. He gets into Herron and Easton in a big way. There are no expectations for a while. His journey from walk-on, non-scholarship student-athletes to the English premier league is not being looked at. He does not have the weight of a nation on his shoulders. He's a new father and he's cradling his loved ones.
House of Pain's song "Jump Around" can be heard through Brooklyn Steel's speakers just over the Kosciuszko Bridge. There are signs that say "Only forward" on the walls. The team will reveal their World Cup roster for the first time in eight years.
When Turner's face appears, there's loud applause and a lot of confusion.
The Mexicans were shut out twice in World Cup qualification. When they acquired him, Manchester City paid more than the previous record for an American goalie. According to Howard, he thought he would start for the next decade.
Berhalter left the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year off the roster, even though he publicly chose Turner, and he called it "heartbreaking."
Berhalter is fresh off lighting the Empire State Building.
Why did you make that decision? Taylor Twellman is the lead soccer analyst for the sports network.
It's more about what we have than what we don't in some cases.
Turner's 14 clean sheets are sixth-most all-time for the U.S. men, but Berhalter doesn't say that. He was paid up to $10 million for his services by the club. Turner's ceiling has him on it for club and country.
Turner told Yahoo Sports that he could've missed the World Cup because of an injury. Turner said that it was a strained groin and that there was a high chance of injury. Pundits worried that he wouldn't be sharp because of his backup role in England. Turner hasn't played a match since the beginning of the season.
There's comfort in seeing a shot hit from 18 to 20 yards out because he can get there.
Turner photos, jerseys and gloves are still in the office of Decima. His award is on the right side of Decima's computer.
He's the same kid? Decima said so. He gets back after you send him a text. He picks up the phone. 35 goalkeepers went to a camp. He just had a kid, so I asked him to get on the phone for a while. You don't have to ask, he said.
I told him I appreciated him. He said that he appreciated what you did for him when nobody believed in him. Turner's story is not true. You're trying to make the first team at 16. What if you don't? You're no longer with us.
It's been nine years since Iona was last seen by Cindy, Turner's mother, and Stu, his father. It wasn't that long ago that their son was close to taking a job in the financial management leadership program at General Electric.
Who would have believed that? The man says something. A couple weeks ago, I went to the game between the two teams. We leave the stadium and go to a bar. People are yelling 'That's Matt Turner!'. The kid who was trying to hit righty was a lefty. Is this going to happen?
Turner doesn't think it's hit him yet.
Turner had to place a lot of trust in moments that didn't feel right. Everything happens for a reason. I have to trust it and try to make the most of my time in this position.
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