Matt Turner’s advice to Henry Kessler after not making USMNT friendly squad

Matt Turner is preparing for a milestone day on Sunday against Trinidad & Tobago. While his dreams are about to come true as he potentially lands his first international cap. For Henry Kessler, his dream has come to an end (for now).

Turner was selected to be a part of the 25 man squad that is preparing for a friendly on Sunday night. As the only senior goalkeeper in camp, Turner seems like an obvious choice to get the start.

USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter had plenty of praise for the goalkeeper ahead of Sunday’s friendly.

He said. “Matt certainly has improved. I think it’s night and day compared to him last January camp. He had the reflexes last January but now his whole game has improved and you can see that he has gained confidence.”

Berhalter would later go on to say that he needs to improve on working with his feet and starting the build-up as a goalkeeper.

Kessler on the other hand is headed home. He was not named to the squad for the friendly against Trinidad & Tobago and will now shift focus to getting ready for the start of New England’s season.

Turner was asked on Monday if he had any advice for Kessler after being sent home and the goalkeeper shared the wisdom that he instilled on the young center back.

He said. “I talked to Kess. I know he was disappointed not to be here. He’s a competitive guy. He had a really great season and I told him that ‘Listen the only thing that you can do now is get back to work. Your young, you had one year as a professional and you ended it with a call up to the national team, the U-23’s. Just keep going and don’t let it discourage you. I know this was a big goal of yours,’ but I listed a few of my goals that I had and goals that I failed at achieving.”

Turner would continue saying, “you just got to keep moving forward and I know that as I guess I’ll call it a veteran of the Revolution now, I’ve been able to help him and guide him. I know he has a really great relationship with Andrew Farrell as well. I think the three of us have formed a really great partnership. I think that it will help keep him going and keep him motivated and I think he learned a lot and grew a ton as a player and as a professional, and most importantly as a person with his time here.

2020 was quite the rookie year for Kessler as he was named the Revs Defender of the Year. He was the first rookie to win the award since 2011.

While it’s disappointing that Kessler wasn't named to the 25-man squad that will go up against Trinidad & Tobago, he has plenty of soccer left to play. Hopefully, there will be more USMNT camps in the defender’s future.