Two goalkeepers with ties to the region and the Philadelphia Union Academy will be competing in the U17 CONCACAF Championship kicking off later this week in Panama.
Current academy and Bethlehem Steel FC goalkeeper Tomas Romero (Cherry Hill, N.J.) is on the squad for El Salvador, which has the tall task of being in a group that also includes the United States, Mexico and Jamaica.
C.J. dos Santos, a Philadelphia native who left the Union Academy last summer to sign with S.L. Benfica in Portugal, is one of two goalkeepers on the U.S. team, which opens Group C play on Sunday against Jamaica.