Meghan Klingenberg

Meghan Klingenberg 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). 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.

Klingenberg was born in Pittsburgh, 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 a NSCAA All-America selection. She was also named a Parade All-American.

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.

n 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.

In 2012, Klingenberg signed with Swedish club, Tyresö FF. 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 will finish UEFA Women's Champions League with Tyresӧ FF, before joining the Dash mid season.

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 FC for Alex Morgan and other considerations.

Klingenberg has played for the United States women's national soccer team at the 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. 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.