Pittsburgh native Meghan Klingenberg played all 630 minutes of the World Cup Tourney in Canada this summer helping to lead the U.S. to its third Women’s World Cup championship in seven years.
“I’m not sure there are really worlds to describe what winning a World Cup feels like,” said Klingenberg while on 90.5 WESA’s Essential Pittsburgh. “I was just in awe of what we had accomplished because of how many years we had put into training.”
On the heals of that amazing finish Klingenberg and much of the rest of the championship team hit the road for a series of “friendly” matches with the Costa Rican team in cities across the United states including one in Pittsburgh.
During the second half of that game Klingenberg, who usually stays back in a more defensive position, was shifted by coach Jill Ellis to play as a midfielder with the hope of scoring a goal.
The shift proved fruitful when she took a centering pass from Tobin Heath and put it in the goal.
The Pine Richland graduate quickly ran to the sidelines where she was tossed a terrible towel, which she proudly waived over her head on a celebratory lap around the field.
“It was such a special moment because I have never heard a crowd cheer that loud in my life,” said Klingenberg.
Klingenberg is proud to be one of the two athletes in the city to wear number 22 (The Pirate’s Andrew McCutchen tweeted he is ready for a showdown with here to see who wears it better.) and still tries to get back to town as much as possible. She says Pittsburgh is where she gets to relax.
More Essential Pittsburgh segments can be heard here.