Sacha Kljestan has proved he can play with the best of the Belgian league. The Anderlecht midfielder is a regular starter and a contributing member of the back-to-back league champions.

Stopping the Belgian league’s best and stopping Belgium’s best, however, are two distinctly different propositions. The latter, the tougher of the pair, is what Kljestan will be asked to do Wednesday night when he starts at defensive midfielder for the United States in a friendly.

The oft-mustachioed midfielder has seen only sporadic minutes under Jurgen Klinsmann and even then rarely is he in the same spot he plays with the Purple and White. Klinsmann has regularly deployed Kljestan as a substitute winger, and the results haven’t always gone as planned. Not only has his offense been punchless, he’s also struggled to contain his charges defensively. Kljestan was particularly ineffective in the Americans’ most recent loss, coming on for the last half hour in San Pedro Sula and failing to provide the required spark.

Despite lagging recently, he’s had some bright moments in the Stars and Stripes, scoring a hat trick against Sweden in a 2009 friendly and performing well in the 2011 Gold Cup that was Bob Bradley’s final tournament in charge of the U.S. Is Klinsmann’s preference to play Kljestan as a winger to blame for the stunted production? The player insists he’s pleased playing any position, telling Brian Sciarretta, “If I don’t get played in the middle, I’m not going to complain about it. I’m happy to be with the national team and I’m happy to put in work to help the team in any way I possibly can.” That’s understandable; most fringe players are keen to do anything possible to get onto the field, but how he performs at his “natural position” in Cleveland will go a long way toward determining the role he’ll play with the national team going forward.

It’s no secret the pool is filled with central midfielders. Assuming qualification, Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones will likely occupy the starting spots in Brazil should Klinsmann still be playing the 4-2-3-1. Despite the depth, there could be an opportunity to step in. Both of those players are on yellow cards and would miss the subsequent World Cup Qualifier with a booking. The manager has also shown a fondness for bringing on Maurice Edu to spell Jones or further clog the midfield when the U.S. has a lead. With Bradley recently playing the Copa Italia final and Edu out injured, Kljestan gets his chance to show the manager he too can provide another option at the position.

That’s not to say a good performance against Belgium will mean Kljestan needs to get out the Portuguese phrasebook or that a poor one will see Klinsmann throw out his number. Still, this is the most obvious opportunity for the 27-year-old to prove his worth. Doing so won’t be easy with the Red Devils made up of Premier League mainstays like Marouane Fellaini, Christian Benteke, Mousa Dembele, and Romelu Lukaku plus up-and-comers like Kevin De Bruyne. He does get a bit of a break with Chelsea star Eden Hazard back in Belgium because of an injury and Axel Witsel wrapping up club commitments. Even with those absences, however, the talent level is higher than that of the Belgian league players Kljestan has become a master at dispossessing. Klinsmann has placed him in a position to succeed, but Kljestan must prove himself against some elite competition.

Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) is a writer based in Arizona and is ASN's CONCACAF correspondent.