Chris Klein (born January 4, 1976 in St. Louis,
Missouri) is an American soccer player, who
currently plays right midfielder for the Los Angeles
Galaxy of Major League Soccer.
Klein played four years of college soccer at Indiana
University, from 1994 to 1997. In total, he started
88 games for the Hoosiers, registering 11 goals and
11 assists as a senior.
Upon his graduation, Klein was selected fourth
overall by the Kansas City Wizards in the 1998 MLS
College Draft. 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 MLS Cup 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 to Real Salt Lake for an
allocation.
On June 21, 2007, Klein was traded to the Los
Angeles Galaxy for midfielder Nathan Sturgis and
forward Robbie Findley.
Klein has been a fringe player for the United States
national team for the last several years. He
received his first cap October 25, 2000 against
Mexico, his debut for the men's national team at any
age level. He has played in a total of 16 games for
the national team, scoring three goals; his best
year was 2003, when he played in seven games, and
scored all three of his goals.
