Sacha Kljestan's "La Guerra Fría"

When Sacha Kljestan was 18 years old, most college soccer coaches figured he was too small to make an impact at the next level.

Not even six years later, Kljestan-a 2008 U.S. Olympian-is becoming a mainstay on the United States men's national team. He will play in tonight's "La Guerra Fría"-or The Cold War-the always-heated World Cup qualifying match against Mexico in chilly Columbus, Ohio.

"It's going to be a tough match," Kljestan said Thursday from Team USA's training camp in Los Angeles. "I've watched a lot of USA-Mexico games on TV but it will hopefully be the first one I've [played] in."

Life is on a high for the 23-year-old midfielder. After being named to Major League Soccer's Best XI and Chivas USA's MVP team in only his third season, Kljestan spent six days in Glasgow, Scotland, this January training with 42-time Scottish League champions, Celtic.

Immediately after returning to southern California, Kljestan netted all three goals in the United States' 3-2 friendly win against Sweden.

"I think that was a good game, especially for me in the aspect of getting the goals and helping the team win," Kljestan said. "I think it was good to start with a win because we did in the past two years as well and it helped carry us into the year."

USA coach Bob Bradley said that Kljestan grew up with the national team in the last stretch of games.

"He's a strong candidate to always be on the field now and it's nice to see the maturity, but [with all our young guys] there's still a way to go," Bradley said.

On Sunday, Kljestan officially was named to Team USA's 20-man roster for the Mexico game. Besides nine more World Cup qualifying matches, the U.S. national team also will head to South Africa to play in the FIFA Confederations Cup against top countries Italy, Brazil, Egypt and potentially more.

It's hard to imagine how so many college coaches wrote off a player of Kljestan's caliber. But Manny Schellscheidt was not one of them.

The longtime Seton Hall University coach came across the country and plucked Kljestan out of Orange Country, Calif., and brought him back to play for the Pirates in South Orange, N.J.

"I saw a very skillful, gifted player that was a skinny kid, maybe not regarded by many as the typical great athlete, but I saw his gift," Schellscheidt said "I saw his talent and he was very good on the ball."

Kljestan was hesitant at first but eventually agreed to take a visit to Seton Hall.

"I guess some other teams said I was too weak or too little to play right away in college," Kljestan said. "I think Manny knows soccer and saw I could bring something to the team."

Kljestan stepped into the Pirates' starting lineup right away, was an All-Big East player as a freshman, and added first-team All-American honors as a sophomore.

While Schellscheidt insists that Kljestan's athleticism and conditioning are underrated, he says it's Kljestan's creativity and knowledge of the game that really set him apart.

"Some people play the music and others compose it," Schellscheidt said. "I regarded him as a composer. Some people are very good at playing the notes in front of them but somebody has to write the notes. It's about ideas, imagination. Then when you watch him play, you easily can make the comment that the ball never gets in the way. He can punish you with the ball. The ball becomes a weapon."

After three years at Seton Hall, Kljestan had 20 goals and 28 assists in 60 matches, and he decided to move on to the next step. In the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, Bradley-then the coach of Chivas USA-selected Kljestan fifth overall to play for his hometown team.

Schellscheidt had confidence in Kljestan and gave him the freedom to be creative in the attacking midfielder role without having to go back and play much defense. This helped Kljestan develop his offensive game. When he joined MLS and the national team, he had to develop into a more complete player.

"As soon as I turned pro, the first thing I had to work on was being a box-to-box mid because there's not too many guys who don't have to go back and help on the defensive side of the ball," Kljestan said. "I think in the past couple of years I have worked hard to be a box-to-box midfielder and help my team in any aspect, not just trying to score goals."

Kljestan's transition from college competition to professional and international competition has been smooth.

The then 21-year-old midfielder played in all 32 games during his first season with Chivas USA and was the runner up for the league's Rookie of the Year honors.

Kljestan got his international start with the U.S. Under-20 team in 2004 and competed in the 2005 Under-20 World Cup in Holland. In 2008 he was the only player to appear in all five games of the Under-23 team's successful Olympic qualifying campaign. At the 2008 Olympic Games, Kljestan started all three matches for Team USA and scored two goals.

"The Olympics were the best experience of my life so far," Kljestan said. "It's something I will cherish until the day I die. It was a dream of mine since 1996 when I saw Michael Johnson [win gold medals in the 200- and 400-meter dash races at the Atlanta Olympics]."

Although Kljestan says he is still "sour" that the team didn't advance from the group stages at the Olympics, he said the players on that team could form a strong core for the senior national team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"I think a lot of the guys on the Olympic team have a definite chance of making a difference in South Africa," Kljestan said. "I think it's all about how we progress and how we get better every day. But I think the starting points for that team are pretty good."

The future looks bright for Kljestan, who has seen interest from top-level teams in Germany and Holland as well as Celtic. This doesn't surprise Schellscheidt one bit.

"In his case there is a harmony," Schellscheidt said. "The body and the ball have become instruments. And now he can tell us who he is as a soccer player and I think it looks pretty good."

Kljestan already has 13 caps, or appearances, with the senior national team. And this is just the beginning of his journey.

"I hope to [play] in a couple of World Cups...and also to solidify a spot in Europe and prove that I can hang with those guys," Kljestan said. "And to win a couple of trophies."

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Chrös McDougall is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.