Matt Turner honors teen who died in USMNT’s Gold Cup win vs. Canada

Matt Turner got here up in the clutch throughout the penalty kick shootout in the United States‘ win over Canada in the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals. He had somebody particular in his ideas when he made these two large saves.

When the USMNT goalie took off his jersey throughout the celebration of the workforce’s win, he revealed a message that he wore on his undershirt, which mentioned “RIP Malia.” 

The message was in remembrance of Malia Jusczyk, a younger woman who died of pancreatic most cancers in June whom Turner met throughout his time with the New England Revolution.

Turner first met Jusczyk in 2021 following a Revolution dwelling sport that the goalkeeper made a penalty kick save to assist his squad get a victory. But Turner, who left New England to hitch Arsenal in 2022, admitted he wasn’t as near Jusczyk as he would’ve preferred to have been following that preliminary assembly.

That’s why Turner opted to pay tribute to right here on Sunday.

“As professional athletes, you have a platform. For me, I used to use that platform a lot more frequently, dealing with kids with cancer,” Turner mentioned in a postgame interview. “There was one I met named Malia, and it just came to my attention recently that she passed away. 

“Honestly, I felt horrible as a result of I hadn’t been there [for her] actually after seeing her at Gillette Stadium. I hadn’t been there as a lot for her. God relaxation her soul, might she relaxation in peace and far like to her household, and know that day-after-day me and my household are considering of her.”

Turner additionally shared a message honoring the late teenager on Twitter.

“Rest in peace @MaliaJusczyk thanks for smiling down on us all,” Turner wrote with a pair of heart emojis.

Turner didn’t record a save in the first 120 minutes of Sunday’s match as Canada only got one shot on net. But when the penalty shootout began, he stepped up.

First, Turner stopped Steven Vitória penalty kick after the Canadian scored on a penalty kick in the final minutes of regulation to send the match to extra time. In the second round, Turner guessed correctly and stopped Liam Fraser‘s penalty kick.

In the ultimate spherical, with Canada needing to attain to increase the match, Turner obtained some luck as Charles-Andréas Brym‘s shot went off the crossbar to ship the United States to the semifinal. 

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