Turkish National Under-23 Men’s National Team won a 3–2 decision this evening aginst U.S. National Under-23 team at the Toulon International Tournament taking place in Toulon, France.
U.S.team after falling behind 2-0 at halftime, the U.S. cut the lead in half when Eric Brunner scored in the 58th minute, but it was short-lived as the U.S. let in a goal just thirty seconds later. Forward Sammy Ochoa pulled the U.S. within one goal in the 72nd minute with a spectacular strike, but Turkey held on for the victory.
The U.S. will next face Ivory Coast on May 23 in their second match of Group B at the Toulon International Tournament.
Early action for Turkey came in the seventh minute when U.S. goalkeeper Dominic Cervi boggled a bad bounce in front of the net, but Turkish forward Ilhan Parlak was unable to get a shot off.
In the 14th minute, the U.S. received a golden opportunity when Ochoa capitalized on a poor back pass from a Turkish defender, but his first-time volley directly from 12 yards out in front of the net was wide right.
Five minutes later, Turkey took the lead when forward Sam Orhan trapped a deflected corner and quickly sent it back into play for unmarked teammate Eren Gungor. Gungor placed the ball in the lower right side of the net catching Cervi off guard and on the other end of the goal line.
On the second goal for Turkey in the 35th minute, Adem Buyuk found a wide open Nuri Sahin on the left side of the box and he placed the ball past Cervi into the right side of the goal
Thirteen minutes into the second half, U.S. forward Eric Brunner received a corner kick from Kamani Hill and struck a solid volley into the back of the net to bring the score to 2–1.
The one-goal difference didn’t hold up long though, as thirty seconds later Turkey retaliated with its third goal of the match. Erkin Caner served a long ball up the middle of the U.S. defense, finding Ilhan, who held off two U.S. defenders before putting the ball past Cervi.
The U.S. continued their pressure and tallied again in the 72nd minute when a Turkey deflection provided Ochoa with a chance to rifle a shot past the Turkey goalkeeper from 18 yards out.
As the minutes ran down on the clock, both teams were awarded goal opportunities. U.S. substitute Brek Shea chested the ball down and stroked the ball just left of the goal in the 82nd minute. Erkin took a direct shot in the 91st with a wide dive right from Cervi.
Lineups:
USA: 18-Dominic Cervi; 13-Blake Wagner (7-Tony Beltran, 46), 3-Eric Brunner, 6-Julian Valentin, 25-Jonathon Leathers; 10-Benny Feilhaber (capt.) (21-Brek Shea, 67), 8-Greg Dalby, 17-Lee Nguyen (7-Kamani Hill, 46); 19-Sammy Ochoa, 9-Gabe Ferrari
Subs Not Used: 1-Chris Seitz, 2-Rob Valentino, 4-Kyle Davies, 5-Michael Gavin, 11-Ellis McLoughlin, 14-Bryan Arguez, 15-Bryan Jordan, 24-Quentin Westberg
Head Coach: Peter Nowak
TUR: 1-Ufuk Ceylan; 2-Durmus Bayram, 4-Eren Gungor, 5-Orhan Sam, 7-Erkin Caner; 6-Mehmet Guven (20-Zafer Yelen 57), 8-Ozer Hurmaci, 10-Nuri Sahin (capt.), 21-Serdar Ozkan (13-Bilal Cubukcu, 68); 17-Adem Buyuk, 9-Ilhan Parlak
Subs Not Used: 3-Alparslan Erdem, 11-Ozgurcan Ozkan, 12-Onur Recep Kivrak,14-Emre Balak, 15-Aydin Yilmaz, 19-Aykur Demir, 22-Tufan Tosunoglu, 23-Sinan Bolat
Head Coach: Umit Davala
This match will be replayed on FSC 11:30 PM.ET
