Best is Yet to Come

USMNT Burner Week Recap/Preview - 6/3/25 - Vol. 10

Jun 03, 2025

Turkey coming to town? YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!

Turkey and Swiss Sandwich

The USMNT will take on Turkey and Switzerland on June 7th and June 10th, respectively. These two matches will serve as a warm up for the USMNT’s Gold Cup campaign.

Turkey 🇹🇷
The USMNT will host Turkey in East Hartford, Connecticut as the two sides will meet for the first time since 2014, a game in which, Clint Dempsey and Fabian Johnson scored en route to a 2-1 win for the USMNT. In Turkey’s last matches they took down Hungary 3-0 and 3-1 for a 6-1 aggregate win in their UEFA Nations League promotion playoff.

Turkey’s squad consists of 17 players who play in the Turkish Super Lig and 10 playing abroad. This Turkish side is led by veterans Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Merih Demiral, and Çağlar Söyüncü, but they also have an exciting young crop of players. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler, Juventus’s Kenan Yildiz, and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Can Uzun are just a few of Turkey’s next generation of talents that have been included in this roster.

Turkey’s attack will run through Guler, Yildiz, and Benfica’s Kerem Aktürkoğlu. These three will keep the USMNT’s backline plenty busy. Aktürkoğlu netted 16 goals this season for Benfica and will look to add to his 11 goals at international level. Turkey finished second in their UEFA Nations League B group with 11 points, 1 point behind first place, Wales. A loss on the final day to last place Montenegro meant Turkey would have to go through the promotion playoffs. They defeated Hungary in a two legged tier, 6-1 on aggregate.
Game Details:
🆚 United States vs Turkey
📈 FIFA Ranking: 27
🏆 Friendly
⏰ Sat, June 7 - 3:30 PM EST
📺 TruTV, Telemundo, Univision, MAX, Peacock
📍 Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field - East Hartford, CT

Switzerland 🇨🇭
Switzerland will face the USMNT at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee on June 10th. The last time these two teams met was the summer of 2021 when the US blew an early lead to fall 1-2 in St. Gallen. The lone goal for the USMNT was scored by Sebastian Lletget. Fun fact: Julian Green was an unused substitute in that match and it was the last time he has been with the USMNT.

This Switzerland team is leaning on experience. Two players in the squad have hit over a century of caps for the Swiss national team and five players having reached the half-century mark. Players like Granit Xhaka, Ricardo Rodriquez, Manuel Aknaji, and Breel Embolo will be the focal points of this squad. Switzerland’s no. 1 goalkeeper, Yann Sommer, just watched five goals fly past him in the Champions League final and has been given a break for this window. Which means Gregor Kobel will be the man between the sticks. The Borussia Dortmund shot stopper has been unlucky to not be the main man for the Swiss. Sommer’s resurgence at Inter Milan has been a middle finger to father time and has helped him hold down the first choice spot for the Swiss.

Switzerland’s front trio will likely consist of Dan Ndoye at right wing, Zeki Amdouni at left wing, and Embolo at striker. These three will be bring pace and directness to a well balanced Swiss side. Amdouni was the teams leading goal scorer as they finished last in their UEFA Nations League A group. The Swiss won zero games, drew two, and lost four en route to relegation back to League B. Dating back to the start of last summer’s EUROs, Switzerland has won just three of their 13 matches in that span.
Game Details:
🆚 United States vs Switzerland
🏆 Friendly
📈 FIFA Ranking: 20
⏰ Tue, June 10 - 3:30 PM EST
📺 TNT, TruTV, Univision, MAX, Peacock
📍 Geodis Park - Nashville, TN

Curtains Close on the Weekend

Only a few clubs are still in season, so we are going to highlight some recent transfers as well.

Bryang Kayo has officially joined VfL Osnabruck 🇩🇪 from Ingolstadt
Desmond Kumih-Barimah has signed his first scholarship with Bristol City 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and will join their U18 side for the next season.
Xander Newstead scored for Ajax 🇳🇱 U16 as they beat PSV 5-2.
Dominic Duncan has joined Wuppertaler SV 🇩🇪 from Eintracht Hohkeppel.
Eric McCue scored an 85’ goal for Orebro 🇸🇪 to give them the 3-2 lead over IK Brage before they eventually tied 3-3.
Oisin McEntee has joined Hearts of Midlothian 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 from Walsall.
15 year old center back Max Gordon has left Kaiserslautern and joined Leverkusen’s 🇩🇪 academy.
Andre Gitau has signed for Mainz II 🇩🇪 after two years with Wormatia Worms.
Agustin Anello had the assist on the 88’ winner for Boston River 🇺🇾 against Juventud de las Piedras.

Lore Moment of the Week

This week, burner staff was lucky enough to catch up with American-Italian dual nat Matteo Carbonara of Inter Milan! Here’s how the conversation went:

Burner: Hi Matteo, it’s great to chat with you! First off, tell us a little bit about your connection to the United States.

Carbonara: I was born in Anaheim, California. I played youth soccer in Brea, and then moved to Italy with my family when I was 8 years old. I have never been back to the US to visit, but I did play in the GA Cup with Inter.

Burner: How would you describe your own style of play? Is there anyone you have tried to model your game after?

Carbonara: I prefer to be an attacking fullback, but it really depends on the opponent and what the coach asks of me. My fitness is very good so I am happy to do both.

Burner: It looks like you have a pretty big match against Roma’s U18 in the league semifinal on June 10th. How do you feel about this game and your season as a whole?

Carbonara: We have had a very good season so far, me and the team are very excited for the semifinal and the opportunity to win the league. The best game of the season was definitely the derby against (AC) Milan. It is a special chance to play against your rival.

Burner: Have you had any discussions with the USSF or FIGC (Italian Football Federation) about representing the United States or Italy?

Carbonara: It is every footballer’s dream to play internationally! I have not had the opportunity yet and I have not heard from the USA or Italy. Hopefully I can get the chance soon if I continue to play well.

Burner: What are your plans for the upcoming off-season?

Carbonara: I plan on taking probably 5 days off before training again for the new season. We start preseason in July, so it’s important for me to stay in shape.

Burner: Have you set any goals for next season yet?

Carbonara: One big goal for me is to continue to improve my game and hopefully I can begin to train with the first team sometimes. I have not trained with them before and I think that would be a good experience for me.

Burner: To wrap this up, let’s go through some fun questions! If someone was going to travel to Italy, where would you recommend they visit or what is your favorite part about living in Italy?

Carbonara: The best part about Italy is the food, obviously. I live near Milan which is an incredible city, but I recommend trips to Rome and Florence too.

Burner: Thank you so much for your time, Matteo! Best of luck next week and we are excited to see your successes!

Carbonara: Thank you so much, guys. I appreciate your support.

Again, huge thank you to Matteo Carbonara for taking the time to answer some of our questions!

Burner staff is looking to continue this as a content segment moving forward and already have another exciting prospect for next week’s lore moment!

Subscribe NOW so you can be the first to hear from these American Abroad prospects.

Red Lights, Stop Signs, I Still See Your Face in the White Cars

One canon event in every man’s life is sitting around a table drunkenly naming random sports players. Trying to one up your friends as you take turn yelling random player names. This is a burner favorite but we often do this with forgotten USYNT players.