ST. LOUIS — The biggest sports star in St. Louis at this exact moment might be a man who has only played five games for one of our teams.
St. Louis CITY SC is the talk of Major League Soccer, still undefeated after the five games of the franchise's existence. João Klauss is the talk of St. Louis, with five highlight-reel goals through those five games.
You have to be pretty darn good to only go by one name in professional sports. And Klauss is living up to that criteria right now. It turns out his grandmother knew all along fans would make him a single-name-superstar.
"My mother and father were talking about my name, and they decided for João Klauss," he said. "And my grandmother told my mother, 'Nobody will call him João. Everyone will call him Klauss one day. And you're going to remember (him).' So it starts with her."
The Brazilian striker came to St. Louis thanks in part to a relationship with sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel. He was looking for a home, and he's found it in the gateway city.
"I want to be a part of a club that I can call my own. My club, my home. I think it was the best decision for me," Klauss said. "Since the first day here I have a lot of love from the people working for the club. Coach, staff, membership, ownership, my teammates... and now we've started the games, the supporters are amazing. Absolutely. I'm home."
Klauss has become a quick fan favorite because of his goal-scoring prowess of course, but also for his infectious personality. So where does that come from?
"I think from my country. We like to smile and enjoy with friends. Also this group. It's a really good group of guys. We have a lot of fun together. We really enjoy being here every day together. It doesn't matter if we're on the bus to the airport we have fun, if we get on the plane, we're having fun... that makes it easier," Klauss said.
It also makes it easier when 20,000-plus people are chanting your name at CityPark.
"It's difficult to explain in words the feeling you get when you walk into the stadium," Klauss said.
And it's an even bigger rush when you score a goal in front of all those supporters.
"It's amazing because it's not just me that's having the moment. You have your teammates and you have the crowd. So many people in the same place, happy for the same thing. So scoring a goal for me is one of the best feelings in the world," Klauss said.
An imposing physical presence, at 6-foot-3, Klauss can use his physicality to find his way into scoring areas. But the league's second-leading scorer said he's not even thinking about scoring when he shows up to the pitch.
"A few years ago I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to score goals, and I think this is not something positive," he said. "So, I always have my mind free. When I go to the game I don't know if I'm going to play well or score, but I make sure my mind is in the right place and my mentality is there. The only thing I'm sure of is I'm going to give 100%. In Brazil, we said, 'It's my mother crying or their mother crying.' I don't like to see my mother crying, so I always go hard."
So far, Klauss and CITY SC have proved all the prognosticators wrong. They're on top of the Western Conference, and in uncharted territory for an expansion franchise.
They've worn the preseason disrespect as a chip on their shoulder. And it's working.
"It's tough to speak about someone you don't know. Or a team you don't know. Basically they kill our team. I think when you see the players we have here and what we've done before, I think we deserve a little more respect from the outside. But I understand from the outside since it's our first year," Klauss said. "I think now when the teams play against us for sure they're going to have a little bit more respect. Of course we're not the perfect team, but we have our philosophy. We know the way we're gonna play. We know we have to give 100% on the pitch, because that's our style and if we go to play 80% or 70% it won't work."
When asked about the biggest reason for the early success? The answer was easy. It's about the people.
"I think the group of people we have in this building. Since the first day, the ownership brought the right people in to start. Lutz first. This is a special guy. He knows a lot about soccer. He knows how to do the things. And then he brought Bradley, John Hackworth, Jarryd Phillips ... Everyone is always working with positivity and believing we can play a great season from the first day," Klauss said.
With a 5-0 start, CITY SC has supporters thinking big in this first season. But the team is still grounded, playing with nothing to lose.
And with Klauss continuing to find the back of the net, who knows where they could be at the end of 2023.
"We have no pressure. We had no expectations on us... We take it game by game for sure, the only thing I can say is we're going to be competitive for the rest of the 30 games," he said. "I don't know where we're gonna finish, but I'm sure we won't go down in our mentality and the way we want to play."