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{{lead too short|date=August 2010}}
Born in [[Tunisia]], '''Raouf Hannachi''' is a [[Canadian citizen]] who served as the [[Muezzin]] at [[Assuna Mosque]] in [[Montreal]], and was later detained by the [[United States]] government at the [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]] in [[Cuba]].<ref name="join">Bell, Stewart. [[National Post]], "Dozens of Canadians join Jihad Terror Camps", October 25, 2003</ref><ref name=GlobeAndMail060310>
{{Infobox football biography
[http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060310.GITMO10/TPStory/National Third Montrealer on detainee list at Guantanamo], ''[[Globe and Mail]]'', March 10, 2006</ref> He was turned over to [[Tunisia]]n officials in October 2001 and jailed.<ref name=Cpcml>
| playername = Sacha Kljestan
[http://www.cpcml.ca/Tmld2003/D33197.htm#2 The Charkaoui Case], ''[[Communist Party of Canada, Marxist-Leninist]]''</ref>
| image = [[File:Sacha Kljestan 2011.jpg|175px]]
| caption = With [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]] in 2011
| fullname = Sacha Bryan Kljestan
| dateofbirth = {{birth date and age|1985|9|9}}
| cityofbirth = [[Huntington Beach, California]]
| countryofbirth = [[United States]]
| height = {{height|ft=6|in=1}}
| position = [[Midfielder]]
| currentclub = [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]]
| clubnumber = 19
| youthyears1 = 2003&ndash;2005
| youthclubs1 = [[Seton Hall University|Seton Hall Pirates]]
| years1 = 2005
| clubs1 = [[Orange County Blue Star]]
| caps1 = 2
| goals1 = 1
| years2 = 2006&ndash;2010
| clubs2 = [[C.D. Chivas USA|Chivas USA]]
| caps2 = 114
| goals2 = 15
| years3 = 2010&ndash;
| clubs3 = [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]]
| caps3 = 28
| goals3 = 4
| nationalyears1 = 2004&ndash;2005
| nationalteam1 = [[United States U-20 men's national soccer team|United States U-20]]
| nationalcaps1 = 16
| nationalgoals1 = 1
| nationalyears2 = 2007&ndash;2008
| nationalteam2 = [[United States under-23 men's national soccer team|United States U-23]]
| nationalcaps2 = 16
| nationalgoals2 = 3
| nationalyears3 = 2007&ndash;
| nationalteam3 = [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]]
| nationalcaps3 = 32
| nationalgoals3 = 4
| medaltemplates =
| pcupdate = June 19, 2011
| ntupdate = 18 July 2011
}}


'''Sacha Kljestan''' ({{lang-sr|Saša Klještan}}, ''Саша Кљештан'') (born September 9, 1985 in [[Anaheim, California]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[association football|soccer]] player who currently plays for [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]] in the [[Belgian First Division]].
Hannachi became a Canadian citizen in 1986, and lived in [[Montreal]] with his wife.<ref>[[Amnesty International]], [http://aiscf-tunisie.antigone.koumbit.org/aiscf-tunisie/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=15 Raouf Hannachi: un citoyen canadien emprisonné en Tunisie depuis plus de 2 ans et 4 mois], January 2006</ref>


==Career==
Hannachi was an active al-Qaeda member.<ref name="haqu"/><ref name="sent">{{cite web|url=http://intelfiles.egoplex.com/ressam-sentencing-memo.pdf|title=Government's Sentencing Memorandum; U.S. v. Ressam|date=April 20, 2005|accessdate=28 February 2010}}</ref><ref name=sage/><ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020627&slug=7ressam27 "The Terrorist Within, Chapter 7: Joining Jihad", The Seattle Times, June 27, 2002, March 1, 2010]</ref> Hannachi returned from Afghanistan towards the end of the summer of 1997, where he had trained for ''[[jihad]]'' at [[Khalden Camp]]. He told [[Ahmed Ressam]] about the experience and ''jihad'', encouraged him to train as well, and ultimately arranged a trip to the camp for Ressam and his roommate [[Mustapha Labsi]].<ref name="join"/><ref name="haqu">{{cite web|url=http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/haouari/ushaouari70301rassamtt.pdf|title=U.S. v. Haquari, Examination|date=July 3, 2001|publisher=USDC SDNY|accessdate=February 27, 2010}}</ref><ref name=sage>{{cite book|last=Sageman|first=Marc|title=Understanding Terror Neworks|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2004|url=http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/toc/14036.html|accessdate=February 28, 2010}}</ref>
===Youth and College===


Kljestan played for the Region IV Olympic Development Program team. He then played three years [[college soccer]] at [[Seton Hall University]]. He was named [[List of NCAA Division I men's soccer First-Team All-America teams|NCAA Division I First-Team All-America]] in 2004 and earned third team honors in 2005. Kljestan was named [[Big East Conference]] Offensive Player of the Year in 2005 and earned first-team All-Big East in 2004 and 2005. He holds the single-season assists record at Seton Hall with 15 in 2005 and ranks fifth all-time at the school with 28 over a three-year career. Kljestan finished his college career with 20 goals and helped Seton Hall University to three NCAA Tournament appearances. He then signed a [[Generation adidas]] contract with MLS, and played [[USL Premier Development League]] soccer for [[Orange County Blue Star]] in 2005. Kljestan was taken fifth overall at the [[2006 MLS SuperDraft]].
When [[Abu Zubaydah]] was [[waterboarding|waterboarded]] by American intelligence officers, he offered up Hannachi's name among the hundreds of others he listed as conspirators.<ref name="join"/>


===Professional===
{| border="1"
====Chivas USA====
|+ Individuals alleged to have been recruited by Hannachi include
| [[Djamel Ameziane]]<ref name="GlobeAndMail060310"/>
||
* Former [[Algeria]]n resident of [[Canada]], now subject to [[extrajudicial]] detention in the [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]], [[Cuba]].
* [[United States]] alleges Hannachi gave Ameziane $1,200 to $1,500 CAD to travel to [[Afghanistan]].
|-
| [[Ahmed Ressam]]<ref name="join"/> ||
* "Millennium bomber"
* Hannachi alleged to have funded his travel to the [[Khalden training camp]].
|-
| [[Adil Charkaoui]]<ref name="Cpcml"/> ||
* Held, in [[Canada]], on a "[[Minister's Security Certificate]]".
|}


He was a finalist for 2006 [[MLS Rookie of the Year]] and played for the US in [[Copa América 2007]]. He also played for the US Under-23s at the [[2008 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament]] and scored in a 3-0 win against Canada to send the US Under-23s through to the Olympics.
His [[Montreal]] apartment was [[wiretap]]ped by the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service]] (CSIS), who dubbed his circle of friends BOG, ''[[Bunch of Guys]]'', and joked that they were like "terrorist tupperware parties" in their boastful talk and lack of any true threat.<ref name="kerry">Pither, Kerry. "Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror", 2008.</ref> One of them, however, was Ahmed Ressam, the al-Qaeda member known as the Millennium bomber who attempted to blow up the Los Angeles International Airport.<ref name="join"/>


He was nominated for the Starting XI in the [[2008 MLS All-Star Game]], but chose instead to play for the [[United States U-23 men's national soccer team|U.S. Olympic Team]] in the [[2008 Beijing Olympics]]. His performance for club and country has drawn attention from many clubs overseas, and he left the U.S. team's winter training camp in mid-January 2009 to go on trial beginning January 17 at [[Celtic F.C.|Celtic]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Grahame L |last=Jones |title=Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan to train with Celtic |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/01/chivas-usa-midf.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=January 15, 2009 |accessdate=20 January 2009}}</ref> the [[Scottish Premier League]] [[Scottish Premier League 2007–08|reigning champions]].
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
{{CanadianTerrorism|state=collapsed}}


=====Controversy=====
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Hannachi, Raouf
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannachi, Raouf}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Tunisian people]]
[[Category:Canadian Muslims]]
[[Category:Tunisian emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released]]
[[Category:War on Terror]]


On April 25, 2007, Kljestan was suspended for two games and fined $1,000 for "a serious foul play". Kljestan fouled [[Real Salt Lake]] midfielder [[Andy Williams (soccer)|Andy Williams]] in the second half of [[Chivas USA]]'s 4-0 win on Saturday, April 21, and received a [[Penalty_card#Yellow_card|yellow card]]. Although the [[Referee (association football)|referee]] saw the incident and exercised his on-field judgment not to award a [[Penalty_card#Red_card|red card]], a serious injury to Williams resulted. In this circumstance, the [[Major League Soccer|MLS]] disciplinary committee reviewed the play and concluded that the challenge was an unequivocal red card offense and egregious.<ref>{{cite press release | url=http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20070425&content_id=90408&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp | title=Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee fines and suspension notices | work=MLSnet.com | publisher=[[Major League Soccer]] | location=[[New York City]] | date=25 April 2007}}</ref>


====Anderlecht====
{{Canada-crime-bio-stub}}


In June 2010, he signed a 4-year contract with [[2009–10 Belgian First Division]] champions [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=US international Kljestan transfers to RSCA |url=http://www.rsca.be/go/en/article/27291/us_international_kljestan_transfers_to_rsca |work=rsca.be |publisher=R.S.C. Anderlecht |date=June 10, 2010 |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref> He made his competitive debut and scored his first goal in the same game on July 27, 2010 in a 3&ndash;1 win over [[Wales|Welsh]] club [[The New Saints]] in the [[2009–10 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round#Third qualifying round|third qualifying round]] of the [[2010–11 UEFA Champions League]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=The New Saints 1-3 Anderlecht |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8855183.stm |work=BBC Sport |date=27 July 2010 |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref>


===International===
Born in [[Tunisia]], '''Raouf Hannachi''' is a [[Canadian citizen]] who served as the [[Muezzin]] at [[Assuna Mosque]] in [[Montreal]], and was later detained by the [[United States]] government at the [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]] in [[Cuba]].<ref name="join">Bell, Stewart. [[National Post]], "Dozens of Canadians join Jihad Terror Camps", October 25, 2003</ref><ref name=GlobeAndMail060310>
[http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060310.GITMO10/TPStory/National Third Montrealer on detainee list at Guantanamo], ''[[Globe and Mail]]'', March 10, 2006</ref> He was turned over to [[Tunisia]]n officials in October 2001 and jailed.<ref name=Cpcml>
[http://www.cpcml.ca/Tmld2003/D33197.htm#2 The Charkaoui Case], ''[[Communist Party of Canada, Marxist-Leninist]]''</ref>


Kljestan was part of the [[United States U-20 men's national soccer team|United States Under-20]] team at the [[2005 FIFA World Youth Championship]]. He had entered the U-20 program in 2004, earning a total of 16 caps, scoring 1 goal with the team up to 2005.<ref>[http://ussoccer.com/common/stContent.jsp_79-YU20M03.html U-20 MNT stats]</ref> In early 2007, Kljestan was called into training camp with the [[United States men's national soccer team|senior U.S. national team]], but did not earn a [[cap (sport)|cap]] in the following games. Kljestan made his debut for the senior national team on June 2, 2007, tallying an assist on Benny Feilhaber's winning goal, a 4-1 [[friendly match]] victory over [[China PR national football team|China]] in [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], California. Kljestan was selected to Peter Nowak's roster for the U-23 Olympics in Beijing. He started all three games and finished the tournament as the United States' highest goal scorer with 2, an equalizer against Holland in the 2-2 draw,which was voted goal Best U.S. Mens Soccer goal of 2008, and a penalty against Nigeria in the 2-1 loss that knocked them out of the tournament. Since then he has been starting consistently for the United States under Bob Bradley as a central midfielder and has two assists (three total) in World Cup Qualifying. In a 3-2 victory over [[Sweden national football team|Sweden]] on January 24, 2009, Kljestan scored a [[hat-trick|hat trick]], his first three goals with the senior team. The only other American to notch a hat trick in the same game as his first international goal was [[Aldo Donelli|Aldo "Buff" Donelli]] who scored four goals on May 24, 1934. It was also the 11th hat trick in national team history. On February 24, 2010, Kljestan scored a 92nd minute goal that won the USA a friendly against El Salvador. Sacha proceeded to celebrate what was his 4th national team goal in emotional fashion. The goal, along with Kljestan's performance, was enough to keep Kljestan in contention for a World Cup spot.<ref>[http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_12386304.html Sacha Kljestan Hat Trick Provides U.S. Men With 3-2 Victory Against Sweden to Open 2009] Although he made to the final 30 squad but not for southafrica 2010 by not entering Bradleys final 23.</ref> He was not picked in the final 23 man roster for the 2010 World Cup, but featured in a friendly against Brazil on the next international fixture date.
Hannachi became a Canadian citizen in 1986, and lived in [[Montreal]] with his wife.<ref>[[Amnesty International]], [http://aiscf-tunisie.antigone.koumbit.org/aiscf-tunisie/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=15 Raouf Hannachi: un citoyen canadien emprisonné en Tunisie depuis plus de 2 ans et 4 mois], January 2006</ref>


====International goals====
Hannachi was an active al-Qaeda member.<ref name="haqu"/><ref name="sent">{{cite web|url=http://intelfiles.egoplex.com/ressam-sentencing-memo.pdf|title=Government's Sentencing Memorandum; U.S. v. Ressam|date=April 20, 2005|accessdate=28 February 2010}}</ref><ref name=sage/><ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020627&slug=7ressam27 "The Terrorist Within, Chapter 7: Joining Jihad", The Seattle Times, June 27, 2002, March 1, 2010]</ref> Hannachi returned from Afghanistan towards the end of the summer of 1997, where he had trained for ''[[jihad]]'' at [[Khalden Camp]]. He told [[Ahmed Ressam]] about the experience and ''jihad'', encouraged him to train as well, and ultimately arranged a trip to the camp for Ressam and his roommate [[Mustapha Labsi]].<ref name="join"/><ref name="haqu">{{cite web|url=http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/haouari/ushaouari70301rassamtt.pdf|title=U.S. v. Haquari, Examination|date=July 3, 2001|publisher=USDC SDNY|accessdate=February 27, 2010}}</ref><ref name=sage>{{cite book|last=Sageman|first=Marc|title=Understanding Terror Neworks|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2004|url=http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/toc/14036.html|accessdate=February 28, 2010}}</ref>


<!-- DO NOT DELETE REPEAT ENTRIES!!! REPEAT ENTRIES REPRESENT SCORING MULTIPLE GOALS IN A GAME!!!
When [[Abu Zubaydah]] was [[waterboarding|waterboarded]] by American intelligence officers, he offered up Hannachi's name among the hundreds of others he listed as conspirators.<ref name="join"/>
-->{| class="wikitable"

! &nbsp;#&nbsp; !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
{| border="1"
|+ Individuals alleged to have been recruited by Hannachi include
| [[Djamel Ameziane]]<ref name="GlobeAndMail060310"/>
||
* Former [[Algeria]]n resident of [[Canada]], now subject to [[extrajudicial]] detention in the [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]], [[Cuba]].
* [[United States]] alleges Hannachi gave Ameziane $1,200 to $1,500 CAD to travel to [[Afghanistan]].
|-
|-
! 1
| [[Ahmed Ressam]]<ref name="join"/> ||
| rowspan=3|January 24, 2009 || rowspan=3|{{Flagicon|USA}} [[Home Depot Center]], [[Carson, California]] || rowspan=3|{{fb|SWE}} || align=center|'''1'''–0 || rowspan=3 align=center|3–2 || rowspan=3|[[Exhibition game|Friendly]]
* "Millennium bomber"
* Hannachi alleged to have funded his travel to the [[Khalden training camp]].
|-
|-
! 2
| [[Adil Charkaoui]]<ref name="Cpcml"/> ||
| align=center|'''2'''–0
* Held, in [[Canada]], on a "[[Minister's Security Certificate]]".
|}
|-
! 3
| align=center|'''3'''–1
|-
! 4
| February 24, 2010 || {{Flagicon|USA}} [[Raymond James Stadium]], [[Tampa, Florida]] || {{fb|SLV}} || align=center|'''2'''–1 || align=center|2–1 || Friendly
|-
|}<small>
* Goals scored by Kljestan are marked as '''bold''' in the "Score" column.</small>


==Personal life==
His [[Montreal]] apartment was [[wiretap]]ped by the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service]] (CSIS), who dubbed his circle of friends BOG, ''[[Bunch of Guys]]'', and joked that they were like "terrorist tupperware parties" in their boastful talk and lack of any true threat.<ref name="kerry">Pither, Kerry. "Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror", 2008.</ref> One of them, however, was Ahmed Ressam, the al-Qaeda member known as the Millennium bomber who attempted to blow up the Los Angeles International Airport.<ref name="join"/>


His brother [[Gordon Kljestan|Gordon]] once played an [[Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup|Open Cup]] match for the [[New York Red Bulls]] and currently plays for [[FC Tampa Bay Rowdies]] in [[USSF Division 2]]. Kljestan's father Slavko Klještan, an ethnic [[Serbs|Serb]] from Bosnia, was a semi-professional player in [[FK Željezničar|Željezničar Sarajevo]].<ref>{{Cite news | last=Jones | first=Grahame L. | title=Chivas USA's Sacha Kljestan looks beyond Olympics | url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-olymensoc6-2008aug06,0,2375413.story | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=6 August 2008 |accessdate=12 August 2008}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
{{CanadianTerrorism|state=collapsed}}


Kljestan, along with [[Frank Lampard]] and [[Cuauhtémoc Blanco]], was featured on the North American cover of [[FIFA 10]].
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->

| NAME = Hannachi, Raouf
==Honors==
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =

| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
;Team
| DATE OF BIRTH =
* '''Anderlecht:'''
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
** '''[[Belgian Supercup]]:'''
| DATE OF DEATH =
*** ''Winner:'' [[2010 Belgian Super Cup|2010]]
| PLACE OF DEATH =

;Individual
* '''[[MLS Best XI]]''': 2008

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=228814/index.html FIFA: Sacha Kljestan]
* [http://chivas.usa.mlsnet.com/players/bio.jsp?team=t120&player=kljestan_s&playerId=kle326299&statType=current MLS player profile]
* [http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/MNT/K/Sacha-Kljestan.aspx Sacha Kljestan bio on USSoccer.com]
*[http://www.followussoccer.com/tag/sacha-kljestan/ Current Sacha Kljestan News] at followUSsoccer.com

{{R.S.C. Anderlecht squad}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Sacha Kljestan international tournaments
|list1=
{{United States Squad 2007 Copa América}}
{{United States squad 2008 Summer Olympics}}
{{United States Squad 2009 Confederations Cup}}
{{United States Squad 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannachi, Raouf}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Tunisian people]]
[[Category:Canadian Muslims]]
[[Category:Tunisian emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released]]
[[Category:War on Terror]]


<!-- Goes above DEFAULTSORT/Categories -->

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
|NAME = Kljestan, Sacha
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Klještan, Saša (Serbian);
|SHORT DESCRIPTION = [[Association football]] player
|DATE OF BIRTH = September 9, 1985
|PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Huntington Beach, California]], [[United States]]
|DATE OF DEATH =
|PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kljestan, Sacha}}
[[Category:1985 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Huntington Beach, California]]
[[Category:American soccer players]]
[[Category:Soccer players from California]]
[[Category:American people of Serbian descent]]
[[Category:Seton Hall Pirates men's soccer players]]
[[Category:Orange County Blue Star players]]
[[Category:Chivas USA players]]
[[Category:United States men's international soccer players]]
[[Category:2007 Copa América players]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic soccer players of the United States]]
[[Category:2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players]]
[[Category:2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players]]
[[Category:R.S.C. Anderlecht players]]
[[Category:American expatriate soccer players]]
[[Category:Expatriate footballers in Belgium]]
[[Category:USL Premier Development League players]]


[[ar:ساشا كليستان]]
{{Canada-crime-bio-stub}}
[[ca:Sacha Kljestan]]
[[de:Sacha Kljestan]]
[[es:Sascha Kljestan]]
[[fr:Sacha Kljestan]]
[[it:Sacha Kljestan]]
[[nl:Sacha Kljestan]]
[[ja:サーシャ・クリエスタン]]
[[pl:Sacha Kljestan]]
[[pt:Sacha Kljestan]]
[[ru:Клештан, Саша]]
[[sv:Sacha Kljestan]]
[[tr:Sacha Kljestan]]

Revision as of 20:23, 8 October 2011

Sacha Kljestan
With Anderlecht in 2011
Personal information
Full name Sacha Bryan Kljestan
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Anderlecht
Number 19
Youth career
2003–2005 Seton Hall Pirates
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005 Orange County Blue Star 2 (1)
2006–2010 Chivas USA 114 (15)
2010– Anderlecht 28 (4)
International career‡
2004–2005 United States U-20 16 (1)
2007–2008 United States U-23 16 (3)
2007– United States 32 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of June 19, 2011
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 July 2011

Sacha Kljestan (Serbian: Saša Klještan, Саша Кљештан) (born September 9, 1985 in Anaheim, California) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Anderlecht in the Belgian First Division.

Career

Youth and College

Kljestan played for the Region IV Olympic Development Program team. He then played three years college soccer at Seton Hall University. He was named NCAA Division I First-Team All-America in 2004 and earned third team honors in 2005. Kljestan was named Big East Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2005 and earned first-team All-Big East in 2004 and 2005. He holds the single-season assists record at Seton Hall with 15 in 2005 and ranks fifth all-time at the school with 28 over a three-year career. Kljestan finished his college career with 20 goals and helped Seton Hall University to three NCAA Tournament appearances. He then signed a Generation adidas contract with MLS, and played USL Premier Development League soccer for Orange County Blue Star in 2005. Kljestan was taken fifth overall at the 2006 MLS SuperDraft.

Professional

Chivas USA

He was a finalist for 2006 MLS Rookie of the Year and played for the US in Copa América 2007. He also played for the US Under-23s at the 2008 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament and scored in a 3-0 win against Canada to send the US Under-23s through to the Olympics.

He was nominated for the Starting XI in the 2008 MLS All-Star Game, but chose instead to play for the U.S. Olympic Team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His performance for club and country has drawn attention from many clubs overseas, and he left the U.S. team's winter training camp in mid-January 2009 to go on trial beginning January 17 at Celtic,[1] the Scottish Premier League reigning champions.

Controversy

On April 25, 2007, Kljestan was suspended for two games and fined $1,000 for "a serious foul play". Kljestan fouled Real Salt Lake midfielder Andy Williams in the second half of Chivas USA's 4-0 win on Saturday, April 21, and received a yellow card. Although the referee saw the incident and exercised his on-field judgment not to award a red card, a serious injury to Williams resulted. In this circumstance, the MLS disciplinary committee reviewed the play and concluded that the challenge was an unequivocal red card offense and egregious.[2]

Anderlecht

In June 2010, he signed a 4-year contract with 2009–10 Belgian First Division champions Anderlecht.[3] He made his competitive debut and scored his first goal in the same game on July 27, 2010 in a 3–1 win over Welsh club The New Saints in the third qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League.[4]

International

Kljestan was part of the United States Under-20 team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. He had entered the U-20 program in 2004, earning a total of 16 caps, scoring 1 goal with the team up to 2005.[5] In early 2007, Kljestan was called into training camp with the senior U.S. national team, but did not earn a cap in the following games. Kljestan made his debut for the senior national team on June 2, 2007, tallying an assist on Benny Feilhaber's winning goal, a 4-1 friendly match victory over China in San Jose, California. Kljestan was selected to Peter Nowak's roster for the U-23 Olympics in Beijing. He started all three games and finished the tournament as the United States' highest goal scorer with 2, an equalizer against Holland in the 2-2 draw,which was voted goal Best U.S. Mens Soccer goal of 2008, and a penalty against Nigeria in the 2-1 loss that knocked them out of the tournament. Since then he has been starting consistently for the United States under Bob Bradley as a central midfielder and has two assists (three total) in World Cup Qualifying. In a 3-2 victory over Sweden on January 24, 2009, Kljestan scored a hat trick, his first three goals with the senior team. The only other American to notch a hat trick in the same game as his first international goal was Aldo "Buff" Donelli who scored four goals on May 24, 1934. It was also the 11th hat trick in national team history. On February 24, 2010, Kljestan scored a 92nd minute goal that won the USA a friendly against El Salvador. Sacha proceeded to celebrate what was his 4th national team goal in emotional fashion. The goal, along with Kljestan's performance, was enough to keep Kljestan in contention for a World Cup spot.[6] He was not picked in the final 23 man roster for the 2010 World Cup, but featured in a friendly against Brazil on the next international fixture date.

International goals

 #  Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 January 24, 2009 United States Home Depot Center, Carson, California  Sweden 1–0 3–2 Friendly
2 2–0
3 3–1
4 February 24, 2010 United States Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida  El Salvador 2–1 2–1 Friendly
  • Goals scored by Kljestan are marked as bold in the "Score" column.

Personal life

His brother Gordon once played an Open Cup match for the New York Red Bulls and currently plays for FC Tampa Bay Rowdies in USSF Division 2. Kljestan's father Slavko Klještan, an ethnic Serb from Bosnia, was a semi-professional player in Željezničar Sarajevo.[7]

Kljestan, along with Frank Lampard and Cuauhtémoc Blanco, was featured on the North American cover of FIFA 10.

Honors

Team
Individual

References

  1. ^ Jones, Grahame L (January 15, 2009). "Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan to train with Celtic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee fines and suspension notices". MLSnet.com (Press release). New York City: Major League Soccer. 25 April 2007.
  3. ^ "US international Kljestan transfers to RSCA". rsca.be. R.S.C. Anderlecht. June 10, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
  4. ^ "The New Saints 1-3 Anderlecht". BBC Sport. 27 July 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
  5. ^ U-20 MNT stats
  6. ^ Sacha Kljestan Hat Trick Provides U.S. Men With 3-2 Victory Against Sweden to Open 2009 Although he made to the final 30 squad but not for southafrica 2010 by not entering Bradleys final 23.
  7. ^ Jones, Grahame L. (6 August 2008). "Chivas USA's Sacha Kljestan looks beyond Olympics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 August 2008. [dead link]


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