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About five years ago, American fans were salivating over the thought of Jürgen Klinsmann’s son lining up for the Red, White & Blue. Jonathan Klinsmann, a 6-4 goalkeeper, was born in Munich to a German World Cup winner and an American model. He appeared for the USMNT youth teams and made his debut at Hertha Berlin as a 20-year-old in the Europa League in 2017.
Jonathan Klinsmann hasn’t quite reached the heights expected of him, never appearing in a Bundesliga match or with the senior USMNT. He played in arguably the biggest game of his career since his sole Europa League appearance on Tuesday night, and it did not go well for the 24-year-old.
Klinsmann, chosen as the LA Galaxy’s U.S. Open Cup keeper this season, started his fourth match of the competition against USL Championship side Sacramento Republic FC. He faced three shots, making just one save as the Galaxy suffered a stunning 2-1 defeat as the Republic became the first non-MLS side to reach the Open Cup semifinals since 2017.
THE moment | @SacRepublicFC #USOC2022 pic.twitter.com/LwhARhDDBq
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) June 22, 2022
Jonathan Klinsmann vs. Sacramento Republic FC
Playing at home against a lower-division side, LA Galaxy was expected to advance into the semifinals without too much trouble. The Galaxy, after all, are the most successful club in MLS history.
But Sacramento took the lead three minutes into the game through Rodrigo Lopez.
Who had @Lopez_Roro scoring the first goal of the Quarters?@SacRepublicFC | #USOC2022 pic.twitter.com/lI1DQ0Jr01
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) June 22, 2022
While the Galaxy defense was more to blame than Klinsmann on the goal, he was a bit slow to react, and it looked to be a savable shot.
LA got back into the match through an own goal in the 18th minute. A lineup that included in-form Serbian Dejan Joveljic, Kévin Cabral and Efraín Álvarez couldn’t create a goal of its own.
Instead, the winner came from Luis Fernandes on a shot from nearly 30 yards out. The low effort looked savable, but Klinsmann was either slow to react or unsighted by his defenders (maybe both), and the ball trickled into the back of the net.
Luis Felipe finds a way @LAGalaxy 1-2 @SacRepublicFC | #USOC2022 pic.twitter.com/WEODlnFRrd
— U.S. Open Cup (@opencup) June 22, 2022
Yeah, Klinsmann will wish to have that one back.
Alas, Klinsmann may not play another match this year unless starting keeper Jonathan Bond gets injured. We don’t mean to bash the keeper too hard, because it’s a thankless position and being the son of a World Cup winner and a former coach of Germany and the USMNT certainly raises expectations to unreal levels, but if you’re on an MLS club, you should be saving that.
In Klinsmann’s prior starts this season, he allowed three goals in three wins over San Diego Loyal (1-0), Cal United (3-2) and LAFC (3-1).
Sacramento now awaits the winner of the Sporting KC-Union Omaha matchup on Wednesday night. If Omaha wins, a USL team is guaranteed to make the final (the Union play in USL League One).
On the other side of the bracket, rivals NYCFC and New York Red Bulls play Wednesday night while Orlando City and Nashville SC face off on June 29. The semifinals are in late July with the final slated for early September.
