Meghan Klingenberg

Meghan Klingenberg

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Personal information
Full name	Meghan Elizabeth Klingenberg
Date of birth	(1988-08-02) August 2, 1988
Place of birth	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Height
Position(s)	Defender / Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Portland Thorns
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2010	North Carolina Tar Heels
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	8	(1)
2014–2015	Houston Dash	19	(0)
2016–	Portland Thorns	6	(0)
International career‡
2004	United States U-16
2005	United States U-17
2008	United States U-19
2009–2010	United States U-23
2011–	United States	61	(3)
Medal record FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 Canada Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 21, 2016 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of April 10, 2016

Meghan Elizabeth Klingenberg (born August 2, 1988) is an American soccer defender. She previously played for magicJack and Boston Breakers in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league and is in the United States women's national soccer team player pool. She is currently playing for Portland Thorns in the National Women's Soccer League.

Early life

Klingenberg was born in Pittsburgh and raised in the suburban north hills of Gibsonia, Pennsylvania. She attended Pine-Richland High School from 2003–2007 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.

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.

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.

As a sophomore in 2008, she played in 20 games, starting eight, and missed the last six games of the season playing for the USA 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.

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.

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.

Playing career

Club

WPS, 2011

File:Megan Klingenberg Boston Breakers.jpg

Meghan Klingenberg, Boston Breakers

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

File:Meghan Klingenberg Tyreso.jpg

Klingenberg in the Svenska Supercupen, April 2013

Tyresö FF, 2012–13

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

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. 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.

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, then traded to the NWSL 2016 expansion team Orlando, who then traded her to the Portland Thorns for Alex Morgan and other considerations.

International

File:Meghan Klingenberg Training.jpg

Training in Frisco, Texas for the USWNT

Klingenberg has played for the United States women's national soccer team at the U-16, U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels. 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. She was named an alternate for the 2012 Summer Olympics. 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.

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. 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.

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	Washington	Haiti	Start	57	unassisted	5300.03005 3–0	5600.06005 6–0	World Cup qualifier:Group A
2	2015-04-04	St. Louis	New Zealand	57. off 57' (on Chalupny)	15	unassisted	5100.01005 1–0	5400.04005 4–0	Friendly
3	2015-08-16	Pittsburgh	Costa Rica	Start	56	Tobin Heath	5700.07005 7–0	5800.08005 8–0	Friendly

Career statistics

As of match played September 6, 2015.

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Other		Total
		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	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
	2015	NWSL	12	0	—		—		12	0
Total			19	0	—		—		19	0
Portland Thorns	2016	NWSL	0	0	—		—		0	0
Total			0	0	—		—		0	0
Career total			67	5	5	0	1	0	73	5

Honours

Klingenberg has won four trophies in her career so far. She has won the 2012 Damallsvenskan with Tyresö and the 2012 Women's Premier Soccer League Elite with Western New York Flash. 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.

Club

Western New York Flash

• Women's Premier Soccer League Elite: 2012

Tyresö

• Damallsvenskan: 2012

International

United States

• CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament: 2012
• FIFA Women's World Cup: 2015
• CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament: 2016

In popular culture

Video games

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.

Ticker tape parade and White House honor

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

References

Match reports

External links

• Meghan Klingenberg – FIFA competition record
• US Soccer player profile
• North Carolina player profile
• 2012 Summer Olympics alternate player profile
• Tyresö FF player profile
• Houston Dash player profile
• Meghan Klingenberg on Twitter