Matt Turner and Henry Kessler are 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup champions.
Turner completed his remarkable Gold Cup run with yet another clean sheet - his fifth of the competition - and another Man of the Match award, making five saves as the U.S. Men's National Team beat Mexico, 1-0 in extra time, to claim their seventh confederation title on Sunday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Miles Robinson scored the game's lone goal in the 117th minute, heading home Kellyn Acosta's set piece service.
Kessler, who joined the USMNT ahead of the knockout rounds as a medical replacement, made his senior international debut, coming on to help the Americans close out the game in the final seconds.
Mexico was the more dangerous side in the opening 45 minutes, but Turner kept the game scoreless with four first-half saves, including a stellar stop in the 11th minute when he went full stretch to his left to push a Rogelio Funes Mori header around the post. He denied Funes Mori again in the 31st minute, holding his near post to block a tight-angle effort with his knee.
Rounding out a remarkable night, Turner also wore the captain's armband after Paul Arriola was subbed off in the 87th minute.
Turner's gaudy final statistics at the Gold Cup include a 6-0-0 record, five clean sheets, and a 0.16 goals against average. He conceded just a single goal, from the penalty spot in a 6-1 win over Martinique, and deservedly earned the Golden Glove as the tournament's best goalkeeper.
Including his friendly debut in a 7-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago back in late January, Turner's record with the U.S. National Team is 7-0-0 with six clean sheets, and he has unquestionably earned a spot on the roster when the final round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying begins in early September.
In the meantime, Turner and Kessler - along with Canadian star Tajon Buchanan, who earned the Gold Cup's Young Player Award - will return to the New England Revolution ahead of Wednesday night's showdown with Nashville SC at Gillette Stadium (7 p.m. ET). The Revs, atop the Supporters' Shield standings at the midway mark of the schedule, will be in search of a fifth straight win.
