Matt Turner called into US National Team pre-camp ahead of November international window

There has been talk over the last two seasons about when Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner would get his opportunity, like many goalkeepers have in the past, to represent the United States in international football competition.

With his invite into next week’s U.S. National Team pre-November break camp, he may get that opportunity.

Turner’s name was on Gregg Berhalter’s list of invitees Thursday afternoon for the pre-camp, which starts Saturday and will run all of next week in Bradenton, Florida.

The full roster for the U.S. National Team’s CONCACAF Nations League Group A tilts against Cuba (Friday, Nov. 15) and Canada (Tuesday, Nov. 19) will be released on Nov. 6.

After missing the first two months of the season in a reserve role for former manager Brad Friedel, Turner reclaimed the No. 1 spot in May and, outside of a two-match suspension and the road trip to Portland in late September, the New Jersey native didn’t relinquish the spot.

He was 8-4-7 as the Revs’ No. 1 in 2019, finished fifth in Major League Soccer’s Goalkeeper of the Year voting.

BSJ Analysis

While we’re really excited for Matty Coolhands, we want to pump the brakes just a tiny bit. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves: this is a pre-camp, not the full go. Zack Steffen, the former Columbus Crew goalkeeper now with Fortuna Dusseldorf via Manchester City, is not going to be here for the pre-camp, neither will Alex Bono, seeing as Toronto is in the MLS Cup Final; same with Ethan Horvath from Club Brugge in Belgium. If that happens and he makes the national team for the November window, then that is fantastic.

Berhalter has also called in Atlanta United’s Brad Guzan as well as New York City FC’s Sean Johnson, and we all know how good those two gentlemen are. Guzan, of course, has been part of the crew that really have not shaken the blues of missing last year’s World Cup. And Johnson has had plenty of opportunities, but has never been able to snatch the No. 1 away from either the now-retired Tim Howard or Guzan.

This is a massive opportunity for Turner, and in speaking with him in the past few months, we figure he’s going to approach it the way he approaches everything: thinking he’s the No. 3 — which, to some, might be the truth — and proving that he should be the No. 1 against the Cubans and Canadians.

If anything, it will be an incredible learning experience for him, putting himself into the fire against two of the top keepers in Major League Soccer and the American pool as a whole.