Turkey took advantage of the ‘rest day’ provided by the qualifiers to ‘test themselves’ against the USA in Connecticut.
The friendly match ended 2-1 and featured two LaLiga protagonists: Mauricio Pochettino started with Betis’ Johnny Cardoso and Vincenzo Montella did the same with Real Madrid’s Arda Guler. Both would be protagonists in the 1-1 draw… but that’s another story.
After 60 seconds, the United States was already ahead. Jack McGlynn received the ball on the wing, ran diagonally towards the middle and connected with a left-footed shot straight into the top corner. Unstoppable. A great goal.
Turkey came from behind quickly. Arda Guler equalised in the 24th minute. He did so with one of the most surreal goals of his career. The Real Madrid player, in his attempt to lead the Ottoman pressure, ended up blocking Johnny Cardoso’s pass. He had a good dose of fortune as his block went straight into Matt Freese’s goal.
The former Fenerbahce player, at just 20 years of age, already has five goals in 20 matches for the senior national team. Three of them have come in the last five matches he has played for his country
The decisive 2-1 in the 27th minute was scored by Kerem Akturkoglu. The US defense failed to fully clear a cross from Oguz Aydin and the Benfica striker, formerly of Galatasaray, took advantage of the rebound to score. Turkey and Guler, who played the whole match, are in luck.
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