Matt Turner honors teen who died in USMNT’s Gold Cup win vs. Canada

Matt Turner came up in the clutch during the penalty kick shootout in the United States‘ win over Canada in the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals. He had someone special in his thoughts when he made those two big saves.

When the USMNT goalie took off his jersey during the celebration of the team’s win, he revealed a message that he wore on his undershirt, which said “RIP Malia.”

The message was in remembrance of Malia Jusczyk, a young girl who died of pancreatic cancer in June whom Turner met during his time with the New England Revolution.

Turner first met Jusczyk in 2021 following a Revolution home game that the goalkeeper made a penalty kick save to help his squad get a victory. But Turner, who left New England to join Arsenal in 2022, admitted he wasn’t as close to Jusczyk as he would’ve liked to have been following that initial meeting.

That’s why Turner opted to pay tribute to here on Sunday.

“As professional athletes, you have a platform. For me, I used to use that platform a lot more frequently, dealing with kids with cancer,” Turner said in a postgame interview. “There was one I met named Malia, and it just came to my attention recently that she passed away.

“Honestly, I felt terrible because I hadn’t been there [for her] really after seeing her at Gillette Stadium. I hadn’t been there as much for her. God rest her soul, may she rest in peace and much love to her family, and know that every day me and my family are thinking of her.”

Turner also shared a message honoring the late teenager on Twitter.

“Rest in peace @MaliaJusczyk thank you for smiling down on us all,” Turner wrote with a pair of heart emojis.

Turner didn’t record a save in the first 120 minutes of Sunday’s match as Canada only got one shot on net. But when the penalty shootout began, he stepped up.

First, Turner stopped Steven Vitória penalty kick after the Canadian scored on a penalty kick in the final minutes of regulation to send the match to extra time. In the second round, Turner guessed correctly and stopped Liam Fraser‘s penalty kick.

In the final round, with Canada needing to score to extend the match, Turner got some luck as Charles-Andréas Brym‘s shot went off the crossbar to send the United States to the semifinal.