Chris Klein (born January 4, 1976, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who spent 13 seasons in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and earned 23

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

. Currently, he is the President of

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

, promoted on January 28, 2013, from vice president. Klein spent the entirety of his 12-year professional career playing in

, for the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

and

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

, winning the

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

and Supporters' Shield with Kansas City in 2000, and the Supporters' Shield with Los Angeles in 2010, his last year as a professional. He was notable for his fitness and resilience to injury, setting an MLS record in 2008 when he made his 118th consecutive first team start. Klein was also a veteran member of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

national team during the early 2000s; he acquired 23 caps, scored 5 goals, and represented his country at the

2003 Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vi ...

Career

Amateur

Klein attended

De Smet Jesuit High School De Smet Jesuit High School is a Catholic, college preparatory high school for boys located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The school began classes in the fall of 1967. It was named in honor of the p ...

, and then played three years of college soccer at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

from 1994 to 1997. In total, he started 88 games for the Hoosiers, registering 11 goals and 11 assists as a senior.

Professional

Upon his graduation, Klein was selected fourth overall by the

in the

1998 MLS College Draft The 1998 Major League Soccer College Draft was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and February 1, 1998. The College Draft was followed by the 1998 MLS Supplemental Draft. Format On Saturday, January 31, 1998, Major League Soccer held ...

. He received little playing time as a rookie, starting eight games and substituting into nine, and scored no points. Starting in 1999, however, Klein began to cement a place for himself as one of the league's best midfielders; in the 1999 season, Klein started 24 games for the Wizards, registering six goals and five assists. He started 26 games in 2000, scoring six goals and eight assists, helping the Wizards to an

victory. Klein has been an equally important part of the Wizards midfield for the last four years, although his 2004 campaign was cut short by a torn ACL. He came back in 2005 and was named MLS Comeback Player of the Year for the second time in his career, his first coming in 2002. However, before the 2006 season, Klein was traded with an international roster spot to

for allocation money. On June 21, 2007, Klein was traded to

for midfielder

Nathan Sturgis Nathan Radford Sturgis (born July 6, 1987) is an American former soccer player who last played for Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer. Career Youth and college Sturgis attended Nease High School, played club soccer with the First Coast ...

and forward

Robbie Findley Robert Findley (born August 4, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He was capped 11 times by the United States national team, having made his international debut in 2007. Findley played college soc ...

International

Klein was a fringe player for the United States national team for several years. He received his first cap October 25, 2000 against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, his debut for the men's national team at any age level. He has played in a total of 22 games for the national team, scoring five goals; his best year was 2003, when he played in seven games, and scored three goals.

After playing career

Klein currently is the President of LA Galaxy. He also serves as an assistant coach for Newport Mesa Soccer Club, which is part of the West Ham International Academy.

Personal life

Klein is married with three children. He and his wife are

evangelical Christians Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

, and Klein is active with the

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international non-profit Christian sports ministry founded in 1954 and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has staff offices located throughout the United States and abroad. History FCA was found ...

. Klein resides in suburban

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with his family.

Honors

Kansas City Wizards

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

(1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

MLS Cup (1):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Supporters' Shield (1):

Western Conference Championship (2):

Los Angeles Galaxy

Supporters' Shield (1):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Western Conference Championship (1):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Chris 1976 births Living people American soccer players United States men's international soccer players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Sporting Kansas City players MLS Pro-40 players Real Salt Lake players LA Galaxy players Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars A-League (1995–2004) players Soccer players from St. Louis Sporting Kansas City draft picks Association football midfielders