ATLANTA — U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner said Tuesday that no team should be taken lightly at the 2024 Copa America, rejecting the premise that winning alone is no longer enough for the U.S. men’s national team.
Turner was responding to suggestions after his team’s 2-0 win over Bolivia in their Copa opener on Sunday that they needed to win in a flash against weaker opponents or by a more one-sided scoreline.
“No, you just don’t have that luxury,” Turner said at a news conference Tuesday. “I think you should win when you can, regardless of the situation. Especially in tournaments, it’s all about the result. I want people to remember that.”
The United States won Monday in Arlington, Texas, thanks to an early goal from captain Christian Pulisic and another from Folarin Balogun before halftime, moving level on points with Uruguay at the top of Group C after one game.
“When you win a match at a major global event, a big tournament, it’s good for the team and it’s good for us,” Turner said. “Obviously there are things you wish you could have done better, but that’s the beauty of tournaments – you want to improve throughout the tournament and continue to grow as a team and as a bond and a culture.”
“Maybe we could have done it a little bit differently but in the end we won with a clean sheet and two goals. Going into the next game we know we might have to work a little harder if we want to win that one as well.”
The U.S. faces CONCACAF powerhouse Panama on Thursday in Atlanta in its second group game, and Gregg Berhalter’s team will face Uruguay in its final group game next week and could clinch a spot in the Copa America knockout stages with a win.
Panama beat the United States in a penalty shootout in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals last year.
“They put man-to-man pressure on us,” Turner said of Panama. “They’re a team with a lot of really talented players and athletes. It’s a physical game, as you’d expect, and really competitive.”
U.S. national team forward Tim Weah said his team wasn’t thinking about whether Panama would try to play a more open game or rely on more physical tactics, but rather was focused on themselves.
“We don’t know which Panama team we’re going to face,” Weah told reporters. “We’re just going to go in there 100 percent, take nothing for granted, give it our all and make sure we get the win.”
Despite last year’s Gold Cup result, the U.S. men’s national team is the favorite to win Thursday’s match, especially since they’re playing at home. A large crowd is expected Thursday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which seats more than 70,000 people, just a few miles from that night’s presidential debate.
Turner stressed that no opponent should be overlooked, especially in a tournament, and pointed to Austria’s match against the Netherlands at Euro 2024, which took place just before Turner spoke, as an example of how unpredictable the tournament can be.
“We’re just going to do our best with what’s in front of us,” Turner said. “I think the biggest thing is building on what we’ve done. We’re a team that can continue to improve throughout the tournament… We have the fundamentals in place to win games in this tournament. Now we have to take it even further against different opponents.”
Berhalter has made a similar point recently, saying Friday before the team’s opener that he wants the U.S. to be flexible and adapt to the demands of the game at this tournament — a trait he said is common to the best teams in the world.
The U.S. coach reiterated that point after his team’s win Saturday but also stressed the importance of winning games, calling the victory over Bolivia “comprehensive” and explicitly rejecting the idea that the U.S. should have scored more points against a Bolivian team that hadn’t won outside of its home country in nine years.
Still, there was room for improvement. The U.S. may have been unlucky not to score more goals against Bolivia, but the defense frequently lost the ball. The team was impressive in a 1-1 draw with Brazil in their final Copa America warm-up, four days after suffering a humiliating 5-1 loss to Colombia.
Either of those teams could be a quarterfinal opponent if the U.S. advances. Turner said Tuesday that the U.S. could “take more chances” in front of goal after the win over Bolivia and that the U.S. could do better with the ball when it has it.
“We talked about playing more, more freely and attackingly, but at the same time it changes your position with the risk of counterattacks and mispasses,” Turner said. “I think we learned that lesson in a pretty hard way against Colombia.”
All eyes are currently on Panama, one of the most frequent opponents for the U.S. Men’s National Team, with the U.S. boasting a record of 17 wins, 3 losses and 6 draws against their rivals.
“Honestly, we’re just going with the plan,” Ware said. “We’ve had this game plan since day one. We’re staying true and we’re intentional with how we play. We’re a team that understands each other now and I think you’re starting to see that more and more as we play other games and grow as a team.”
“I think it’s really cool to see us growing as a team and as a family. It’s starting to show on the field. We just need to continue to perform positively.”
