Tomás Líam Romero Keubler (born 19 December 2000) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. Born in the United States, he plays for the El Salvador national team.

Early life

He played youth soccer with Real Jersey FC, before later joining the Philadelphia Union's YSC Academy when he was in eighth grade.

College career

In December 2017, he committed to

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

to play for the men's soccer team starting in 2019. He made his debut and earned his first victory and clean sheet on 2 September against the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the college athletics, athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson (athletic director), Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and masco ...

. In November 2019, he was named the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Goalkeeper of the Week. In December 2019, he helped the Hoyas win the National title, making the game-winning penalty shootout save, to lead Georgetown to their first-ever National Title in soccer. He was unable to play in 2020, as the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Club career

On 10 September 2016, Romero was called up to the Union's

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

affiliate

Bethlehem Steel FC Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. ...

to serve as the backup keeper for a match against the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

. In the offseason, he attended training camp with both Bethlehem and the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

. On 1 April 2017, he made his professional debut at age 16 for the Steel, against the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

, becoming the youngest goalkeeper to start a USL match. In July 2019, he was named

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

Player of the Week, after recording a career-high 11 saves ina 1–0 win over

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, which is currently the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club was founded in 2014 after O ...

on 20 July 2019. During the fall of 2020, he trained with

Philadelphia Union II Philadelphia Union II is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of ...

(the renamed Bethlehem Steel), after the Georgetown season was cancelled due to the

. In January 2021, he joined

club

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

, after the club acquired his homegrown player rights from the Union for $50,000 in general allocation money. He officially signed his first professional contract with LAFC on 1 February 2021. He began the 2021 season on loan with the club's

affiliate team, the

Las Vegas Lights Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that plays in the USL Championship. The team made its debut in 2018 and plays its home games at Cashman Field. The team employs neon imagery in its crest a ...

. On 23 June 2021, Romero made his MLS debut with LAFC in a 2–0 win over FC Dallas, keeping a clean sheet. He returned to Las Vegas on loan in 2022. He was part of LAFC's 2022 MLS Cup winning squad, although he did not feature in any matches that season. After the 2022 season, LAFC declined his club option for the 2023 season. In November 2022, at the 2022 MLS Re-Entry Draft,

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

claimed his contract for the 2023 season, re-uniting him with

Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American association football, soccer coach, who most recently managed Norwegian football team Stabæk Fotball, Stabæk fron 2023 - 2024. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton Universi ...

, who was his former head coach at LAFC in 2021. In 2023, he was loaned to the second team,

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

for some matches, making his debut on 23 April against

. He made his debut for the first team on 8 July against

St. Louis City SC St. Louis City Soccer Club (stylized as St. Louis CITY SC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in St. Louis. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Con ...

. At the end of the 2023 season, the club declined his option for the 2024 season. In February 2024, he signed a one-year contract with

International career

Romero was eligible to represent the United States, where he was born, and El Salvador through descent. In August 2016, he was called up to the El Salvador national U17 team for the first time. He made his debut with the U17s at the Central American Qualifying tournament for the 2017 CONCACAF U17 Championship on 21 November 2016 against Belize U17. He subsequently represented the side at the

2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2017 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (18th edition if all eras included), the men's under-17 international association football, football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted ...

in Panama. He also played with the side at the

2017 Bolivarian Games The 2017 Bolivarian Games, officially the XVIII Bolivarian Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from 11–25 November 2017, in Santa Marta, Colombia. Host city selection Ciudad Bolivar (Venezuela) and Santa Marta (Colombia) ...

. In June 2019, he was called up to the El Salvador U23 for the Olympic qualifiers. He made his debut for the U23s against Haiti U23 on 26 March 2021. On 31 May 2021, the

Salvadoran Football Federation The Salvadoran Football Federation ( or ) is the official governing football organization in El Salvador and is in charge of the El Salvador national football team, and El Salvador national beach soccer team. The federation is also in charge of t ...

released a statement that Romero had declined an invitation to the

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

senior team because he wanted to maintain the possibility of playing for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. However, he subequenltly committed to El Salvador and debuted for the senior team in a friendly 1–1 draw against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

on 5 December 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Tomas 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Cherry Hill, New Jersey Soccer players from Camden County, New Jersey Salvadoran men's footballers 21st-century Salvadoran sportsmen El Salvador men's international footballers El Salvador men's youth international footballers American men's soccer players American sportspeople of Salvadoran descent Georgetown Hoyas men's soccer players Philadelphia Union II players Los Angeles FC players Men's association football goalkeepers USL Championship players Homegrown Players (MLS) Las Vegas Lights FC players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players Toronto FC players Toronto FC II players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players New York City FC players New York City FC II players 21st-century American sportsmen