Meghan Klingenberg

Meghan Elizabeth Klingenberg (born August 2, 1988) is an American soccer defender and FIFA Women's World Cup champion. She is a former member of the United States women's national soccer team and currently plays for Portland Thorns in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).[2] She previously played for 3 teams in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, Tyresö FF in Sweden's Damallsvenskan and the Houston Dash in the NWSL.

Meghan Klingenberg
Klingenberg with the United States women's national soccer team in 2016
Personal information
Full name Meghan Elizabeth Klingenberg
Date of birth (1988-08-02) August 2, 1988
Place of birth Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Height 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Position(s) Left back
Club information
Current team
 Portland Thorns
Number 25
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 North Carolina Tar Heels 70 (18)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011 magicJack 2 (0)
2011 Boston Breakers 10 (0)
2012 Western New York Flash 3 (2)
2012–2014 Tyresö FF 32 (2)
2014–2015 Houston Dash 19 (0)
2016– Portland Thorns 86 (0)
National team‡
2004[1] United States U-16
2005[1] United States U-17
2008[1] United States U-19
2009–2010[1] United States U-23
2011–2017 United States 74 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 25, 2018
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of June 11, 2017

Early life

Klingenberg was born in Pittsburgh and raised in the suburban north hills of Gibsonia, Pennsylvania. She has a younger brother named Drew who played college soccer at Penn State. She attended Pine-Richland High School from 2003 to 2007 and was the captain of the girls soccer team. In 2005, she helped lead Pine-Richland to the Pennsylvania state high school championship and was an NSCAA All-America selection. She was also named a Parade All-American.[3]

Klingenberg claims she enhanced her soccer skills by practicing Taekwondo, and that the martial art made her a more aggressive player. She is now a black belt.[4]

University of North Carolina

Klingenberg attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a four-year starter for the Tar Heels. She scored 18 career goals with 24 assists. Klingenberg was a highly flexible player, playing on all three lines for UNC.

As a freshman in 2007, she played in 24 games, starting 10, and earned Freshman All-ACC honors. She scored five goals with three assists and was a Soccer America First-Team All-Freshman selection. Klingenberg led UNC freshmen in all offensive categories and was an All-ACC Academic Team selection.[3]

As a sophomore in 2008, she played in 20 games, starting eight, and missed the last six games of the season playing for the US at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile. She tied for second on the team with nine assists and two goals. Klingenberg was named to the ACC All-Academic women's soccer team and the ACC Honor Roll.[3]

As a junior in 2009, she played in 26 games and played 1,668 minutes while scoring five goals with one assist. Klingenberg scored the game-winning goal in a 5–2 triumph over Wake Forest in the NCAA quarterfinals.[3]

As a senior in 2010, she was an NSCAA All-American while playing in all 24 games for the Tar Heels and was fourth on the team with 23 points. She had 11 assists (second on the team), scored six goals and was named First-Team All-ACC.[3]

Club career
Klingenberg with Tyreso in 2013
Klingenberg with Portland in 2018

WPS, 2011

In 2011, Klingenberg was selected by the Washington Freedom in the first round of the WPS draft.[5] After the team was moved to Florida and renamed magicJack, she was traded in early June to the Boston Breakers. Klingenberg played 10 matches for Boston, starting them all and totaling 961 minutes for the season. She ended the season with one goal and two assists.[3] She also spent time at Western New York Flash where she won the 2012 Women's Premier Soccer League Elite.[6]

Tyresö FF, 2012–13

In 2012, Klingenberg signed with Swedish club, Tyresö.[7] During her time with Tyresö she won the 2012 Damallsvenskan.[6]

NWSL, 2013

After the WPS folded, the National Women's Soccer League was created with support from the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Houston Dash, 2014–2015

On January 10, 2014, it was announced that the Houston Dash had selected Klingenberg with the sixth pick in the 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft.[8] She finished UEFA Women's Champions League with Tyresӧ FF, before joining the Dash mid-season. She left in October 2015 after making nineteen appearances for the club.[6]

Portland Thorns, 2016–

In October 2015, Klingenberg was part of a pingpong trade that had her join the Seattle Reign as she was traded by Houston Dash for Amber Brooks and a conditional selection in the 2017 NWSL College Draft,[9] then traded to the NWSL 2016 expansion team Orlando, who then traded her to the Portland Thorns for Alex Morgan and other considerations.[10]

International career
Klingenberg training with USWNT in 2012

Klingenberg has played for the United States women's national soccer team at the U-16, U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels.[11] She received her first call-up to the senior squad for the 2011 Four Nations Tournament and earned her first two caps during the event.[11][12][13] She was named an alternate for the 2012 Summer Olympics.[14][15] In March 2013, she was named to the senior team roster by US WNT coach, Tom Sermanni for upcoming exhibition matches against Germany and the Netherlands.[16] Klingenberg made her debut for senior team on January 23, 2011 at the Four Nations Tournament against Canada, coming in as a substitute at seventy-eighth minute.[17] She also played in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. The United States Women's National Soccer Team won the tournament on July 5, 2015. Klingenberg started in every match of the tournament for the team. Despite seeing extensive playing time during the 2016 Summer Olympics, Klingenberg would receive sparse minutes throughout 2017 and has not been called up since January 2018.

International goals
Key (expand for notes on “international goals” and sorting)
Location Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred
Sorted by country name first, then by city name
Lineup Start – played entire match
on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time

off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time
(c) – captain
Sorted by minutes played

Min The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score The match score after the goal was scored.
Sorted by goal difference, then by goal scored by the player's team
Result The final score.

Sorted by goal difference in the match, then by goal difference in penalty-shoot-out if it is taken, followed by goal scored by the player's team in the match, then by goal scored in the penalty-shoot-out. For matches with identical final scores, match ending in extra-time without penalty-shoot-out is a tougher match, therefore precede matches that ended in regulation

aet The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parenthesis; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
Light-blue background color – FIFA women's world cup qualification match

NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player

Goal Date Location Opponent Lineup Min Assist/pass Score Result Competition
1
 2014-10-20[m 1] Washington  Haiti Start 57 unassisted

5300.03005 3–0

5600.06005 6–0

World Cup qualifier:Group A
2
 2015-04-04[m 2] St. Louis  New Zealand 57.

off 57' (on Chalupny)

 15 unassisted

5100.01005 1–0

5400.04005 4–0

Friendly
3
 2015-08-16[m 3] Pittsburgh  Costa Rica Start 56 Tobin Heath

5700.07005 7–0

5800.08005 8–0

Friendly

Career statistics
As of conclusion of 2017 NWSL season.[6]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
magicJack 2011 WPS 20——20
Total 20——20
Boston Breakers 2011 WPS 111——111
Total 111——111
Western New York Flash 2012 WPSL 32——32
Total 32——32
Tyresö 2012 Damallsvenskan 8120—101
2013 Damallsvenskan 201201[lower-alpha 2]0231
2014 Damallsvenskan 4010—50
Total 3225010382
Houston Dash 2014 NWSL 70——70
2015 NWSL 120——120
Total 190——190
Portland Thorns 2016 NWSL 140——140
2017 NWSL 230——230
Total 370——370
Career total 104550101105
  1. Includes the Svenska Cupen
  2. One appearance in Svenska Supercupen

Honors

Klingenberg has won five trophies in her career so far. She has won the 2012 Damallsvenskan with Tyresö, the 2012 Women's Premier Soccer League Elite with Western New York Flash, and the 2017 National Women's Soccer League with Portland Thorns FC . She's also won the 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and 2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship with the United States women's national soccer team.[6]

Club
Western New York Flash
Tyresö
Portland Thorns FC

Personal

  • NWSL Second XI: 2017

International
United States

Individual

Off-field

While with the Houston Dash, Klingenberg and teammate Morgan Brian lived with the family of former Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy during the NWSL season, as part of the Dash's host family program.[19] In 2019, Klingenberg, along with United States teammates Tobin Heath, Christen Press and Megan Rapinoe started Re-inc, a gender-neutral lifestyle brand.[20]

Klingenberg was featured with her national teammates in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series in FIFA 16, the first time women players were included in the game.[21]

Following the United States' win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Klingenberg and her teammates became the first women's sports team to be honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City.[22] Each player received a key to the city from Mayor Bill de Blasio.[23] In October of the same year, the team was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House.[24]

References
  1. "Meghan Klingenberg". U.S. Soccer. Archived from the original on November 18, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  2. Meghan Klingenberg's US Soccer Profile Archived August 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Meghan Klingenberg player profile". US Soccer. Archived from the original on November 18, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  4. "Meet the U.S. women's soccer team seeking World Cup glory". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  5. Lauletta's League Lowdown Archived February 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Soccerway. October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  7. "Meghan Klingenberg to Tyresö FF". Tyreso FF. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  8. "Houston Dash select 10 players in 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft". Houston Dash Communications. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  9. "Houston Dash acquire rights to midfielder Amber Brooks, first-round draft pick from Seattle Reign FC". Houston Dash. October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  10. https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2015/10/21/alex-morgan-uswnt-star-nwsl-trade-portland-thorns-orlando
  11. Heim, David (June 11, 2015). "Meet The 10 USWNT World Cup First Timers". CBS Local. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  12. "U.S. Women Rebound to Defeat Canada 2–1 at Four Nations Tournament in China". U.S. Soccer. January 23, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  13. "U.S. Defeats China 2–0 to Win Four Nations Tournament". U.S. Soccer. January 25, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  14. "Meghan Klingenberg set for Summer Olympics". Trib Total Media, LLC. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  15. "Meghan Klingenberg". London 2012 Olympic Games. Archived from the original on September 15, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  16. "Franch, Johnston, Klingenberg on US women's roster for games at Germany, Netherlands". Fox News. Retrieved March 21, 2013.
  17. "U.S. Women Rebound to Defeat Canada 2–1 at Four Nations Tournament in China". U.S.Soccer.
  18. "2015 FIFPro Award". Fifpro.org. February 18, 2016. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  19. "USWNT stars Morgan Brian and Meghan Klingenberg are living with Jeff Van Gundy". FTW.usatoday.com. June 25, 2015.
  20. Schwab, Katharine (July 1, 2019). "Megan Rapinoe's new lifestyle brand is built on inclusive design". Fast Company.
  21. Barnes, Katie (September 28, 2015). "Why 'FIFA 16' is a Landmark for Women". ESPN. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  22. "U.S. women celebrate World Cup with ticker-tape parade in New York City". USA Today. July 11, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  23. "Team USA parades NYC's "Canyon of Heroes"". CBS News. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  24. Wagner, Laura (October 27, 2015). "Obama To U.S. Women's Soccer Team: 'Playing Like A Girl Means You're A Badass'". NPR. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
Match reports
  1. "WNT Defeats Haiti 6–0 to Earn Top Seed in Semifinals of 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship". U.S.Soccer.
  2. "U.S. WNT 4 vs. New Zealand 0". U.S.Soccer.
  3. "World Champion U.S. WNT Opens Victory Tour with 8–0 Win Against Costa Rica in Front of Record Crowd in Pittsburgh". U.S.Soccer.
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