Amid some criticism of the team’s display in its Copa América opener against Bolivia, U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Matt Turner has emphasized that in tournament play, wins are all that matters.
The USMNT comfortably beat Bolivia at AT&T Stadium in Texas on Sunday, as Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun scored in the first half to set the U.S. on its way to victory.
Despite a dominant performance that saw the expected goals at 2.40 to 0.18 in the USMNT’s favor, there was still criticism over several missed chances as well as some sloppy turnovers in the back line.
Though Turner admitted the USMNT’s performance wasn’t perfect, the shot-stopper insisted that his side didn’t have the luxury of being upset about a win in a major tournament.
“We’ll never have that luxury,” Turner said at a press conference on Tuesday. “I think you take wins when you get wins, no matter the context. I think the result, especially in tournament play, is the end-all be-all and I implore people to not lose sight of that.
“I think any time you can win a game in a worldwide competition and a big-time tournament, it’s good for the program, it’s good for us.”
Ahead of Thursday’s match against Panama, the 30-year-old did concede the USMNT would have to improve against a team that figures to challenge his side more than La Verde could.
“Obviously, we wish we did some things better, but that’s what tournaments are about,” Turner said. “You want to improve and get better throughout the tournament and keep growing as a team and a bond and a culture.
“So as much as we could have done things a little bit differently, at the end of the day we got a clean sheet, we scored two goals and we won. Going into this next match we know we might have to be a little bit better if we want to win that game as well.”
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