CJ
Dos Santos

U.S. National Teams: Makes his second youth World Cup appearance for the USA after being a part of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India … Debuted for the U-20 MNT against France U-21 on March 23, 2018, a 1-0 shutout win … Named to the USA roster for the Concacaf U-20 Championship, but was recalled by his club prior to the start of the tournament … One of two main goalkeepers for the U-17s in 2017, starting three matches and allowing just one goal … Helped the U-17 MNT to a record 16th FIFA U-17 World Cup qualification at the 2017 Concacaf U-17 Championship … Played one match at the tournament, a shutout 1-0 win against El Salvador … Made his first international appearance with the USA as part of the U-15 BNT at a June 2015 friendly against Paraguay in Argentina … Earned his first Youth National Team call-up in Dec. 2014 with the U-15 BNT.

Professional: Signed with Benfica in Aug. 2016 and signed an extension through 2023 in Sept. 2018 … Made his debut with Benfica’s U-23 squad in April 2019 … Won the U-19 National Championship with Benfica during the 2017-18 campaign.

Youth: Spent three seasons with the Philadelphia Union in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy … Played with FC Delco before joining the Union … Spent U-6 to U-11 with Philadelphia SC … Kicked off his youth career with Foxchase SC from U-4 to U-6 … Started playing soccer at age two. 

Personal: Full name is Carlos Joaquim dos Santos … Named after his father, Carlos, and grandfather, Joaquim … Dad was a goalkeeper at a Division I college and played semi-professionally … Parents immigrated to the U.S. from Portugal and Cape Verde … Grew up playing baseball as his team’s ace pitcher …  Also played basketball … Loves photography, watching movies, reading, writing poetry, cooking and long walks on the beach … Enjoys playing guitar, though he admits he’s not very good … Favorite soccer player is Cristiano Ronaldo … Lists Ronaldo and LeBron James as his biggest athletic inspirations … Favorite movies are The Dark Knight and The Empire Strikes Back … Favorite TV show is Spongebob Squarepants … Big fan of Journey and Drake … Loves eating anything that’s put on the table.