Gordon Zdravko Kljestan (born November 30, 1983 in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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.

Career

College and Amateur

Kljestan played one year of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

, prior to transferring to

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

where he played from 2004 to 2006. Kljestan was a three year starter for the Pirates and was named as a 2006 All-Big East preseason selection and 2005 All-Big East honorable mention. During his college years, Kljestan also played three seasons for

Orange County Blue Star Orange County Blue Star was an American soccer team based in Irvine, California. Founded in 1997, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southwest Division of the Weste ...

of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

Professional

Kljestan was drafted by the

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 ...

with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the

2007 MLS Supplemental Draft The 2007 MLS Supplemental Draft was held on January 18, 2007, following the SuperDraft (held on January 12, 2007), as teams filled out their developmental rosters. Changes from 2006 * 2007 expansion club Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (co ...

. He started in six games for the Galaxy reserve team, logging 513 minutes, but was waived at the end of the season without making a senior start. In 2007, Kljestan signed with the

New Jersey Ironmen The New Jersey Ironmen were an American indoor soccer team. They originally joined the Major Indoor Soccer League for the 2007–08 season. When the MISL ceased operations a year later, they joined the Xtreme Soccer League. The team played at t ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He played thirty-two games, scoring two goals. In 2008, he played in one game for his second

team,

Newark Ironbound Express Jersey Express was an American soccer team based in Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey, Springfield, New Jersey. Founded in 2007, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, ...

. On June 7, 2008, he started in a 1-1 draw against the

Long Island Rough Riders The Long Island Rough Riders are an American soccer team based in South Huntington, New York, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at Hofst ...

. He started and played for 68 minutes until the game was called off due to weather. Kljestan signed with the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

on June 25, 2008 after training with the team for weeks. He played in his first match for the New York the following day in a friendly against

Chivas Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the Primera División de Méxic ...

, and made his full professional debut for the Red Bulls on 1 July 2008, in a

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

third round game against

Crystal Palace Baltimore Crystal Palace Baltimore was an American professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, US. Founded in 2006, the club was originally named Crystal Palace USA and was affiliated with English side Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace. The cl ...

. He was waived on November 26, 2008. He signed with

Cleveland City Stars The Cleveland City Stars were an American professional soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2009. The club fo ...

in April 2009 and he played in 22 games. Kljestan signed with

FC Tampa Bay The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

of the

USSF Division 2 The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding Un ...

in April 2010. Appeared in 12 matches, scoring 2 goals as a defender. Retired from professional soccer in January 2011 and currently works in the Los Angeles Galaxy front office.

Personal

Gordon is the brother of former

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

and current LA Galaxy and former United States national soccer team midfielder

Sacha Kljestan Sacha Bryan Kljestan (; born September 9, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. Youth and college Kljestan was raised in Huntington Beach, California, and played for th ...

. Kljestan's father Slavko Klještan, a

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

from

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, was a professional player playing for Željezničar Sarajevo.

References

External links

Cleveland City Stars bioMetroFanatic profileNew Jersey Ironmen profileSeton Hall bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kljestan, Gordon 1983 births Living people American people of Serbian descent American soccer players Association football midfielders Cal State Fullerton Titans men's soccer players Cleveland City Stars players Jersey Express S.C. players LA Galaxy draft picks LA Galaxy non-playing staff LA Galaxy players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players New Jersey Ironmen players New York Red Bulls players Orange County Blue Star players Seton Hall Pirates men's soccer players Soccer players from California Sportspeople from Huntington Beach, California Tampa Bay Rowdies players USL First Division players USL League Two players USSF Division 2 Professional League players