Back to the Philadelphia Union Newsfeed

Teens separated by 7,000 miles meet on a soccer field in suburban Philadelphia

As away matches go, it’s pretty hard to match the 7,000-mile journey a group of teenagers from the United Arab Emirates recently took to participate in a camp, see local sights of interest and play a couple of friendlies in the Philadelphia area.

The team of mostly 16-year-olds from The Football Academy of Dubai started their time here at the Villanova Soccer Camp and then capped off the trip with a four-day tour organized by Rosemont College head coach David Carvalho.

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this,” said Carvalho, who in addition to coaching in the college ranks runs a company called Brazilian Technical Training.