A large group of fans crowded around the Fox Sports set on the second level of Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas shortly after the USA beat Jamaica to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup on Oct. 14. Some held up signs. Some gleefully cheered and yelled. Some downed their beers.

But viewers at home didn't see the busy scene around the set. Instead, they saw Meghan Klingenberg speaking with fellow analyst Rob Stone, zoning out the noise as she calmly and confidently gave her analysis of the game.

If she felt any nerves, she didn't show it.

"It was kind of like being on College GameDay," said Klingenberg, referencing ESPN's pregame show for college football. "Literally, all these people were standing right behind the lights. They had signs, they were yelling things, they were talking loudly, drinking beer. It was a little bit wild trying to perform for the cameras."

Klingenberg, 30, has performed in front of much larger crowds. The veteran left back has earned 74 caps for the U.S. Women's National Team (USWNT) since 2011 and helped to lead the USA to the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup title in front of 53,341 fans at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada.

But the Fox Sports set was a new stage for Klingenberg.

In October, Fox Sports announced that Klingenberg would be joining the network as a studio analyst for the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship. During the tournament, Klingenberg served as an analyst for the USA's games against Panama, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica.

Up until recently, Klingenberg hadn't even considered the prospect of becoming a broadcaster. After representing the USWNT in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and 2016 Rio Olympics, Klingenberg had set her sights on making the USA's 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup team. But despite strong seasons with the Portland Thorns in the National Women's Soccer League, Klingenberg fell out of favor with the USWNT over the last two years. She last saw minutes with the national team in June 2017.

It was Fox Sports play-by-play announcer John Strong, who is from Portland and was formerly the lead voice for the Portland Timbers, that first broached the subject of broadcasting with Klingenberg, asking the longtime player if she ever saw herself transitioning into a new role as an on-air analyst.

An outgoing and talkative person by nature, Klingenberg was intrigued by the idea and told Strong that she would like to give it a try. Within days, Strong had helped Klingenberg line up an interview with Fox Sports.

Along with serving as analyst for the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship, Klingenberg will remain involved with Fox Sports at least through December. The network is still finalizing its plans for the next few months, but expects Klingenberg to be involved with covering the USWNT's friendly against Scotland in November and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup draw in December.

"I think this is something I could see myself continuing to do in the future," Klingenberg said. "I think that's why I'm testing it out and getting to know if it's something that I want to do. At this point, I really enjoy it. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of travel, but I'm used to that."

Becoming a soccer analyst has been a new and exciting challenge for Klingenberg, who brings a unique perspective to the set as a recent U.S. Women's National Team player.

To prepare for the CONCACAF Women's Championship, Klingenberg spent a lot time watching previous games and researching the opponents that the USWNT would face in the tournament. She also had her producers send her video clips from big games, so she could practice talking over highlight reels. In the last few weeks, Klingenberg has also carefully re-watched her segments from the CONCACAF Women's Championship, taking notes on the areas that she wants to work on following her first-ever stint as a studio analyst.

"It's a lot more difficult than you would ever expect," Klingenberg said. "You just don't even realize how much is going on behind the scenes when you're watching on TV. I've been doing a lot of practice to try to get comfortable with things, like talking over highlights, which I've never done before. It has been really interesting. It has been really fun, but it has been tough so far."

Klingenberg doesn't plan to hang up her cleats any time soon. While she hasn't been earning call-ups to the national team, Klingenberg has remained a key player for the Thorns. Over the last three seasons, she has helped the Thorns win the 2016 NWSL Shield and 2017 NWSL Championship title, as well as make a run to the 2018 NWSL Championship Game.

But even as she has dedicated herself to the sport, Klingenberg has always had other passions away from the field and has spent the last few years setting herself up for life after professional soccer.

Along with wading into the broadcasting world, Klingenberg, who studied business with a concentration in entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina, has been exploring multiple business ventures. She was recently in San Francisco talking with venture capital firms about investment opportunities.

Klingenberg doesn't know exactly what her future will hold, but she is enjoying the chance to explore multiple avenues. That includes seeing where her new role as a studio analyst with Fox Sports can take her.

"I always want to be around the game because the game is amazing, but I know that I have a lot of passions outside of soccer too," Klingenberg said. "One of those passions is business. I also know I enjoy connecting with people. I feel that this studio analyst job allows me to do that. I've been really enjoying getting to know this new space and the people in it."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg