FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla - "Maybe I even care almost too much..."
Matt Turner knows what the outside world has been saying about him. He knows how perceptions of him have changed, particularly over the last year. He's seen social media, read the stories, heard the soundbites. He knows that his stock isn't where it once was and that belief in him isn't either.
For all of the things Turner has seen or heard over the last year, one thing has stung the most. It wasn't a criticism of a particular play or result. It wasn't even a criticism specifically of him. It was this notion or this idea that the veterans who make up the U.S. Men's National Team don't care. That belief permeated throughout American soccer from spring right on through summer, and, to Turner, it felt like a knife to the stomach, largely because he does care, again, maybe even too much.
"I feel like it gets a little bit lost sometimes, how much I care about this national team and how many sacrifices I've made in the last six years," he says to GOAL at MLS's Media Tour. "Opting into games that other guys weren't opting into to play myself into a better position, the sacrifices I've made, time away from family. I feel like I got wrapped up in that time where it was like, 'Oh yeah, the players don't care,' because I had a bad game, but it was like, man, I've done everything. I hope that people don't ever question that.
“I hope I’m never wrapped up in that conversation. You can say that Turner’s this or Turner’s that, but all of us care. These guys care. I just hope people can look at me and say, ‘Everything that guy has ever done was because he cared.’”
With that out of the way, Turner can reflect on the things he cares about most. He cares about his role with the USMNT, which has fluctuated, to put it lightly. He cares about succeeding at the World Cup and building on his performances back in 2022. He cares about setting the right example, starter or not, and he cares about being the type of teammate, father, and friend that can handle the harder moments with grace, even when they eat him alive inside.
In short, Turner cares about the fight ahead. He’s determined to start at the World Cup and is betting on himself to do so. He’s motivated to be more than he was in 2025, as both a player and a person.
Now, heading into those few months, he's determined to be open and honest about how challenging they will be, particularly given how difficult the last year or so was to put him on this path.
"I'm an open book," he says. "I find it to be more peaceful that way. I don't like to have secrets. I tell things the way they are, because that's who I am."
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