World Cup Qualifiers: Matt Turner and late subs save USMNT and Gregg Berhalter

The United States Men’s National Team did not get off to a good start against Honduras on Wednesday night but thankfully they were able to turn things around walking away with a 4-1 win.

Gregg Berhalter took a risk with the starting XI inserting George Bello, James Sands, and Ricardo Pepi. Also, fans saw Tyler Adams move from the midfield to the backline.

The first 45 minutes were rough for the stars and stripes. The team was not showing any effort and just looked like a lost team.

The backline struggled once again with John Brooks once again exhibiting some terrible defending and allowing his man to get open in the box in the 27th minute. Bryan Moya headed a ball past Matt Turner in the bottom left corner of the net leaving fans ready to chase Berhalter out of his office.

Heading into halftime, the United States needed some changes, luckily for Berhalter he made the right ones. Antonee Robinson, Brenden Aaronson, and Sebastian Lletget all came into the match at halftime. Each of these players would go on to score a goal as USMNT ended up dominating the second half.

The story of the night has to be surrounding the 18-year-old striker. Pepi became the youngest player in USMNT history to score in his senior team debut with his goal in the 75th minute. With the United States desperately needing a No.9, it seems like Pepi could be their guy.

Wednesday night was another quality night for New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner. He made an impressive save in the 64th minute to keep the USMNT in the game. It’s hard to blame Turner for the lone goal seeing that his defense let him down.

The start of Turner’s international career has been impressive. He boasts a record of 8-0-2 with a goals against average of 0.29.

When qualifiers return in October, it’s hard to imagine Turner not being on the roster.