Meghan Klingenberg

Meghan Klingenberg
	Klingenberg with the Portland Thorns in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Meghan Elizabeth Klingenberg
Date of birth	August 2, 1988 (age 35)
Place of birth	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Height	5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Position(s)	Left back
Team information
Current team	Portland Thorns
Number	25
College career
Years	Team
2007–2010	North Carolina Tar Heels
Senior career*
Years	Team
2011	magicJack
2011	Boston Breakers
2012	Western New York Flash
2012–2014	Tyresö FF
2014–2015	Houston Dash
2016–	Portland Thorns
International career‡
2004	United States U-16
2005	United States U-17
2008	United States U-19
2009–2010	United States U-23
2011–2017	United States
Medal record
FIFA Women's World Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 18, 2023; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 11, 2017

Meghan Elizabeth Klingenberg (born August 2, 1988) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Portland Thorns in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).^[3] A former member of the United States women's national soccer team, she is a one-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. She has also played for three teams in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, for Tyresö FF in Sweden's Damallsvenskan and for the Houston Dash in the NWSL.

Early life edit

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

University of North Carolina edit

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.^[4]

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 2008 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.^[4]

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.^[4]

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.^[4]

Klingenberg studied business with a concentration in entrepreneurship while at UNC Chapel Hill.^[6]

Club career edit

WPS, 2011 edit

In 2011, Klingenberg was selected by the Washington Freedom in the first round of the WPS draft.^[7] 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.^[4] She also spent time at Western New York Flash where she won the 2012 Women's Premier Soccer League Elite.^[8]

Tyresö FF, 2012–13 edit

In 2012, Klingenberg signed with Swedish club, Tyresö.^[9] During her time with Tyresö she won the 2012 Damallsvenskan.^[8]

NWSL, 2013 edit

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

Houston Dash, 2014–2015 edit

On January 10, 2014, it was announced that the Houston Dash had selected Klingenberg with the sixth pick in the 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft.^[10] 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.^[8]

Portland Thorns, 2016– edit

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,^[11] then traded to the NWSL 2016 expansion team Orlando, who then traded her to the Portland Thorns FC for Alex Morgan and other considerations.^[12]

International career edit

Klingenberg has played for the United States women's national soccer team at the U-16, U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels.^[13] 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.^[13]^[14]^[15] She was named an alternate for the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[16]^[17] 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.^[18]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.^[19] 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 edit

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 parentheses; 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 edit

As of conclusion of 2022 NWSL season.^[8]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup^[a]		Other^[b]		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
magicJack	2011	WPS	2	0	—		—		2	0
Total			2	0	—		—		2	0
Boston Breakers	2011	WPS	11	1	—		—		11	1
Total			11	1	—		—		11	1
Western New York Flash	2012	WPSL	3	2	—		—		3	2
Total			3	2	—		—		3	2
Tyresö	2012	Damallsvenskan	8	1	2	0	—		10	1
	2013	Damallsvenskan	20	1	2	0	1^[c]	0	23	1
	2014	Damallsvenskan	4	0	1	0	—		5	0
Total			32	2	5	0	1	0	38	2
Houston Dash	2014	NWSL	7	0	—		—		7	0
Houston Dash	2015	NWSL	12	0	—		—		12	0
Total			19	0	—		—		19	0
Portland Thorns	2016	NWSL	14	0	—		—		14	0
	2017	NWSL	23	0	—		—		23	0
	2018	NWSL	20	0	—		—		20	0
	2019	NWSL	23	0	—		—		23	0
	2020	NWSL	—		—		9	0	9	0
	2021	NWSL	22	0	—		5	0	27	0
	2022	NWSL	15	0	—		5	0	20	0
Total			117	0	—		19	0	136	0
Career total			184	5	5	0	10	0	194	5

^ Includes the Svenska Cupen
^ Includes the NWSL Challenge Cup and NWSL Fall Series
^ One appearance in Svenska Supercupen

Honors edit

As of 18 May 2023.^[8]

Western New York Flash

Women's Premier Soccer League Elite: 2012

Tyresö

Damallsvenskan: 2012

Portland Thorns FC

United States

Individual

NWSL Second XI: 2017
FIFPro: FIFA FIFPro World XI 2015^[22]

Off-field edit

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.^[23]

In 2018, Klingenberg participated in negotiating image and likeness rights for the United States women's national team for the U.S. Women's National Team Players Association.^[6]

In 2019, Klingenberg, along with United States teammates Tobin Heath, Christen Press and Megan Rapinoe started Re-inc, a gender-neutral lifestyle brand.^[24]

In popular culture edit

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.^[25] She appeared in the series again in FIFA 23, which added NWSL teams to the game.^[26]

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.^[27] Each player received a key to the city from Mayor Bill de Blasio.^[28] In October of the same year, the team was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House.^[29]

References edit

Match reports

^ "WNT Defeats Haiti 6–0 to Earn Top Seed in Semifinals of 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship". U.S.Soccer.
^ "U.S. WNT 4 vs. New Zealand 0". U.S.Soccer.
^ "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.

[23] Includes the Svenska Cupen

[24] Includes the NWSL Challenge Cup and NWSL Fall Series

[SvCu-25] One appearance in Svenska Supercupen

[uswnt20141020-20] "WNT Defeats Haiti 6–0 to Earn Top Seed in Semifinals of 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship". U.S.Soccer.

[uswnt20150404-21] "U.S. WNT 4 vs. New Zealand 0". U.S.Soccer.

[uswnt20150816-22] "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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