How well do you think you know Sacha Kljestan?
By now, most would assume they know him well. Very well, actually. After all, the California native has been one of the brightest standout American midfielders for the greater part of a decade, earning 46 appearances at the US national team level, MLS Best XI honors, three Belgian Pro League championships and – oh yeah – a Supporters' Shield trophy with the New York Red Bulls last year.
But Kljestan is more than just a winner. MLSsoccer.com sat down with him to learn more about his life.
He gets it from Dad
Whether with Chivas USA, Anderlecht or the Red Bulls, Kljestan is defined by his blue-collar work rate and attitude. And that is no surprise.
Let's just say it runs in his family.
"My dad is an extremely hard worker," he said. "He is like the real American dream. He snuck into the US in the trunk of a car and came here illegally and made a life for himself. That is where I learned my hard work from. He found a Serbian guy in Southern California, a custom woodworker that did remodeling of houses. This guy let him work for him for a couple of months and then he finally got his own place, started his own business and basically ran his own custom construction business for 20, 30 years until he retired a couple of years ago."
Soccer runs in the family
Both Sacha and his older brother Gordon learned from their father to work hard and play hard. When they weren't at the family dinner table waiting for their father to make a mad dash to his plate after another 12-hour workday, they were going to the local parks to partake in dad's favorite sport – soccer.
"He was a huge soccer fan and a player," Sacha recalled. "When he first got to the States, he played semi-professional in some of these California leagues. He has had a love of the sport since he was a kid as well so I got it from him. He always said I had a soccer ball with me from the day I was born. He always wanted to us to play soccer. It always was something we bonded over.
"He was always supportive but he also pushed us. He always knew I had such a drive to be a soccer player. He wanted to do anything he could to help me. He coached our youth team and stuff like that. He pretty much worked 7 to 7 everyday, got home just in time for dinner, and every night after dinner, he would say, ‘Do you want to go to the park? Practice penalty kicks?' He always made himself available for us to try to help me get better as a player and as a person."
The quality time paid off. Dad's dedication led both brothers to the professional ranks of Major League Soccer, where Sacha has become a fixture with the Red Bulls while Gordon works in the front office of the LA Galaxy after a brief MLS career.
What about that name?
Of course, his dad's influence didn't end there. Sacha Kljestan carries his family with him through his unique name – which also features an ordinary middle name: Brian.
"We all have one Serbian name and one American name," he explained. "Brian is my mom's cousin. She was very close with him when she was young. My dad chose Sacha. Sacha is typically spelled Sasa with an accent on the second 's' but my mom knew people in America wouldn't pronounce it right so she spelled it the most American way possible."
An obvious childhood idol
At 30, Kljestan grew up in a world where MLS was just beginning to take its first steps into the American sporting landscape. That meant he had to look for his soccer heroes elsewhere.
"I kind of idolized [Zinedine] Zidane for the longest time,” he said. “It got to the point I started to watch soccer and understand and things like that. I liked Juventus when he played there and I was a big Real Madrid fan when he played there but that was pretty much it."
Lack of college options
It is funny to think that Kljestan may never have been a soccer star at all. As he readily admits, he wasn't heavily recruited coming out of high school. In fact, his move to the East Coast to play for Seton Hall was practically his only chance at continuing his soccer career.
"I didn't have many options," he said. "By chance, our California State team got called to play a friendly game against Region 1 ODP team in San Diego and Manfred Schellscheidt was the coach of that team. He liked what he saw and after the game he asked if I found a school yet. I said no. He told me about Seton Hall and I told him I wasn't interested in leaving California.
"Another month went by and he called again. Nothing had really happened so I said, ‘Screw it, I have to at least check this place out.’"
Kljestan's chance encounter with then-Seton Hall coach Schellscheidt turned into a lifelong relationship.
"I started asking about Manny as a coach. Everybody had not only good, but great things to say about him. I went for my visit and the rest is history," he said. "Manfred Schellscheidt has always been a bit of a guidance to me; a man I can speak to and talk to even until today. It seemed like a very easy transition for me and I was accepted well by everyone in New Jersey. It has kind of been full circle to come here and play again."
Coming to MLS (the first time)
Fate continued to intervene as Kljestan made his jump to the pros after starring at Seton Hall from 2003 to 2005. In arguably one of the deepest MLS SuperDrafts in history, the Seton Hall standout was picked fifth overall in 2006 – one place above future teammate Dax McCarty.
Not that he chides the Red Bulls captain about that.
"[Dax and I] always say our draft was one of the better ones,” he said. “Kei Kamara was in there. Yura Movsisyan. Marvell Wynne. Guys that have had long and good careers. Jozy [Altidore], second round? Crazy."
His greatest moment
After a successful stint with Chivas USA, Kljestan moved on to Anderlecht of the Belgian league. There, he won three league titles – each holding a special place in his heart.
However, his first – in 2010 – is the one that he refers to as "the best moment in my career."
Coming full circle
After accomplishing all he wanted in Europe, Kljestan looked to the US and a chance to return to MLS. However, few probably realized just how taxing the 2015 season was for Kljestan.
Kljestan joined the Red Bulls last winter, but he was already steeped in the Belgian season, which forced him to play 18 consecutive months of soccer.
"We started preseason in the beginning of July with Anderlecht, games start the first of August, so it was a really long year,” he said. “By the end of it, Jesse [Marsch] was doing his best to manage my minutes in training so I would still be fresh for games. But by the end of the season, I started to wear down. My knees were having problems, my ankles were starting to bug me. I needed a break.
"When the season ended, I was dead. I went home to California and did five weeks of absolutely nothing. I didn’t look at a soccer ball, I didn’t touch a soccer ball. Now it was a little more tough getting back into it this season because I took the longest break I took in ten years in professional soccer but mentally I really needed it. Physically I really needed it as well.
"This season, I will be fresh from beginning to end."
Let's do yoga!
After such an arduous 18 months, the 30-year-old midfielder has taken to preservation of his body.
That has led to yoga.
"In soccer, your body is getting stronger from the day you are born to the day you turn 30,” he said. “After 30, your body gets weaker and you have to work harder to manage things. Now that I am 30, my wife and I made a promise to each other that when we turn 30, we do yoga twice a week to preserve my career as much as possible. I am also doing more work in the gym to do injury prevention, a strong core and things like that so I don’t get injured during the season."
Driven to win again
Now well rested and re-focused, Kljestan looks to build on last year's success with the Red Bulls.
"A lot of journalists didn’t think we would do great [in 2015],” he said. “That was the chip-on-our-shoulder mentality. From the first week I was there, I saw a lot of quality in this group. Jesse had a great system from that first friendly game against Toronto. I could tell the system would work if we all bought into it. The mentality was great from everybody and we had a lot of quality. Of course, Thierry Henry left and he is a big player to replace, but we did it with me, Lloyd [Sam], [Mike] Grella, we all chipped in. And Bradley [Wright-Phillips] did his thing.
"To bring the same group of guys to continue to push this thing along is a very good thing. Consistency will help."
