Herculez Gomez

Herculez Gomez

Gomez warming up for the United States in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Herculez Gomez[1]
Date of birth	(1982-04-06) April 6, 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth	Oxnard, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
2001–2002	Cruz Azul
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002	San Diego Gauchos	17	(17)
2002–2006	LA Galaxy	53	(16)
2003	→ Seattle Sounders (loan)	17	(1)
2004	→ San Diego Sockers (loan)	10	(5)
2007–2008	Colorado Rapids	37	(6)
2008–2009	Kansas City Wizards	34	(1)
2010	Puebla	15	(10)
2010–2011	Pachuca	29	(5)
2011	Tecos	16	(7)
2012–2013	Santos Laguna	45	(13)
2013–2015	Tijuana	21	(0)
2014	→ Tigres UANL (loan)	15	(1)
2015	→ Puebla (loan)	13	(1)
2015	Toronto FC	7	(1)
2016	Seattle Sounders FC	21	(0)
Total		350	(85)
International career
2007–2013	United States	24	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Herculez Gomez (born April 6, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He currently works as a commentator in both English and Spanish for ESPN.

Early life

Gomez, the oldest of five children, was born in Oxnard, California,^[2] to Mexican-American parents.^[3] He grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada,^[4] and played on the soccer team at Las Vegas High School.^[5]

Club career

Early career

Gomez started his career in 2001 with Cruz Azul of the Mexican Primera División on their second-division squad, and transferred to second-division team Aguilas Blancas de Puebla later that year. The following season, he returned to the Primera División with Durango. However, playing opportunities were scarce for him there. The Los Angeles Galaxy staff noticed him during a friendly match and he joined the team in September.^[6]

MLS

Gomez broke his foot while on loan to the Seattle Sounders of the United Soccer Leagues, and recovery took a long time. When he was able to play again, he joined the San Diego Sockers of the Major Indoor Soccer League.^[7] He returned to the Galaxy for the 2005 season on a developmental contract, and played well enough to make it to the first team. His big chance came when Landon Donovan was called up to the national team. Donovan's absence gave Gomez many more starts at striker, and he was able to shine as a breakout goal-scorer.^[8]

He scored the game-winning goal in the 2005 U.S. Open Cup Final, then helped the Galaxy to a rare Cup 'double' when they also won the 2005 MLS Cup. Gomez ended the 2005 season with eighteen goals scored for the Galaxy (in all matches), and was voted by the local L.A. media as the year's Most Valuable Player.^[9]

Early in the 2006 season, Gomez was moved to the bench with then-coach Steve Sampson. Sampson used Gomez as a midfielder to see if he could score goals running at defenses. After Sampson's firing, however, Gomez scored several times under new coach Frank Yallop, and ended that season with five goals.^[10]

In December 2006, Gomez was traded to the Colorado Rapids along with Ugo Ihemelu in exchange for Joe Cannon.^[11] He scored the first goal in the history of Dick's Sporting Goods Park in his first game for Colorado, a 2–1 win over D.C. United on April 7, 2007. Gomez tore his ACL during training with the Rapids in September of that year and underwent a lengthy recovery process.^[12]

Gomez was traded to Kansas City Wizards in exchange for allocation money, a fourth round 2009 MLS SuperDraft pick and a first round 2009 MLS Supplemental Draft pick in September 2008.^[13] His only goal for the Wizards was an injury time winner against San Jose Earthquakes, a must win game in their 2008 play-offs push.^[14]

Mexico

Gomez playing for Santos Laguna in 2012

After being released by Kansas City in late 2009, Gomez signed with Mexican club Puebla in January 2010.^[15] He scored ten goals in the 2010 Mexican season^[16] to tie for the lead for most goals; this feat marked the first time any American player led a foreign league in goals.^[17] He moved to Pachuca in the summer 2010 window.

Pachuca placed Gomez, along with its entire squad, on the transfer list.^[18] During the transfer window he moved along with teammate Braulio Luna to Estudiantes Tecos.^[19] Gomez scored his first goal for his new club in the second game of the Mexico Apertura season, coming in a 2–1 loss to San Luis.^[20] On August 19, Gomez scored the winner as a sub against his former club Pachuca.^[21]

Cash-strapped Estudiantes Tecos were forced into selling Gomez to league rivals Santos Laguna in December 2011.^[22] Gomez scored 11 goals in his first 12 appearances for the team across all competitions.

With Santos Laguna's 2012 Clausura victory, Gomez became the first player to have won both the MLS Cup and the Primera División championship.^[23] In 2013, he moved to Club Tijuana. After struggling with Tijuana, he was loaned to Tigres UANL for the 2014–15 season.^[24] However, he ended the season poorly with only one goal. His loan was not extended.

Return to MLS

In August 2015, Gomez joined Toronto FC.^[25]

After his release from Toronto at the beginning of the 2016 MLS season, Gomez joined Seattle Sounders FC.^[26] He won MLS Cup for the second time in his career. He retired following the season and joined ESPN as an analyst.^[27]

International career

Gomez was named to the United States roster for the 2007 Copa America and earned his first cap as a second-half substitute against Argentina, with his first start coming against Colombia.^[28]

After a lengthy absence from the national team, Gomez was named to the provisional 30-man U.S. squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup after a highly productive club season in Mexico. He scored a goal for the U.S. national team in a 4–2 friendly defeat to the Czech Republic on May 25; the next day he was named to the final 23-man squad.^[29] Gomez played in 3 out of the 4 games for the United States at the World Cup, including the round of 16 game against Ghana.

Gomez made his return to the national team in 2012, appearing in friendlies against Scotland and Brazil and scoring a goal against the latter. Later in 2012, he scored goals in World Cup qualifying against Antigua and Barbuda and Jamaica

His last national team appearance came during the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.^[30][31]

Broadcaster

In January 2017, Gomez announced his retirement from professional soccer, and joined the broadcasting team at ESPN. He typically appears as a studio analyst / pundit for ESPN FC, MLS games, and U.S. National Team games.^[32] Also, he is the co-host of several podcasts, most notably the Max and Herc podcast with Max Bretos, where they discuss news around Major League Soccer and the United States national team, and the Two on Tri podcast with Sebastian Salazar, where they discuss the Liga MX, the Mexico national team, and Mexican players abroad.

He and Salazar also host "Fútbol Americas" on ESPN+.

Personal life

Herculez is the brother of MMA fighter Ulysses Gomez.^[33]

Career statistics

Club

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
USA			League		Cup		League Cup		CONCACAF		Total
2003	LA Galaxy	Major League Soccer	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2003	Seattle Sounders	A-League	17	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	21	1
2005	LA Galaxy	Major League Soccer	22	11	4	6	4	1	0	0	30	18
2006			30	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	31	5
2007	Colorado Rapids		20	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	21	5
2008			17	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	2
2008	Kansas City Wizards		8	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	9	1
2009			26	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	28	0
Mexico			League		Cup		League Cup		CONCACAF		Total
2009–10	Puebla	Liga MX	15	10	0	0	–		–		15	10
2010–11	Pachuca		29	5	0	0	–		–		29	5
2011–12	Tecos		16	7	0	0	–		–		16	7
	Santos Laguna		17	7	0	0	–		6	6	23	13
2012–13			33	8	0	0	–		10	3	43	11
2013–14	Tijuana		21	0	0	0	–		4	3	25	3
2014–15	Tigres UANL (loan)		15	0	7	5	–		–		22	5
	Puebla (loan)		13	1	7	2	–		–		20	3
Canada			League		Cup		League Cup		CONCACAF		Total
2015	Toronto FC	Major League Soccer	7	1	0	0	2	0	–		8	1
USA			League		Cup		MLS Cup		CONCACAF		Total
2016	Seattle Sounders FC	Major League Soccer	21	0	3	1	1	0	–		25	1
Total	USA/Canada		169	25	11	8	12	1	0	0	192	33
	Mexico		131	37	14	7	0	0	20	12	165	56
Career total			300	62	25	15	12	1	20	12	357	90

International

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
United States
	2007	2	0
	2008	0	0
	2009	0	0
	2010	6	2
	2011	0	0
	2012	11	3
	2013	5	1
Total		24	6

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	May 25, 2010	Rentschler Field, East Hartford, United States	Czech Republic	2–2	2–4	Friendly
2	June 5, 2010	Ruimsig Stadium, Roodepoort, South Africa	Australia	3–1	3–1
3	May 30, 2012	FedExField, Landover, United States	Brazil	1–2	1–4
4	June 8, 2012	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, United States	Antigua and Barbuda	3–1	3–1	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	September 11, 2012	Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, United States	Jamaica	1–0	1–0
6	July 5, 2013	Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States	Guatemala	1–0	6–0	Friendly

Honors

LA Galaxy

• MLS Cup: 2002, 2005
• U.S. Open Cup: 2005
• Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship: 2005

Santos Laguna

• Mexican Primera División: Clausura 2012

Puebla

• Copa MX: Clausura 2015

Seattle Sounders FC

• MLS Cup: 2016

United States

• CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2013^[34]

Individual

• U.S. Open Cup Top scorer (Shared): 2005
• Mexican Primera División Golden Boot (Shared): Bicentenario 2010
• Copa MX Top scorer (Shared): Clausura 2015

References

1. "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010: List of Players: USA" (PDF). FIFA. June 12, 2010. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2019.
2. Player Bio: Herculez Gomez Archived May 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine on USSoccer.com. Personal information lists California as birthplace.
3. "Herculez Gomez ready to give USA his best shot - USATODAY.com". USA Today. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
4. Herculez Gomez Represents What America Is All About (June 1, 2010). Huffington Post.
5. Timeline: the improbable rise of U.S. candidate Herculez Gomez Archived May 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine (May 24, 2010). Also notes he played for Neusport FC a youth club near Henderson, Nevada (a suburb of Las Vegas).
6. "MLS alum Herculez Gomez living his unusual dream in Mexico - Luis Bueno - SI.com". Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
7. "A road to World Cup paved with heartache". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
8. "Herculez Gomez lights up the nets in Mexico - ESPN Soccernet". Archived from the original on April 11, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
9. "Hispanic-Americans.com : Herculez Gomez Wins Mexican League Scoring Title". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
10. "Buddle, Gomez named to final U.S. roster". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
11. "Galaxy acquire goalkeeper Cannon in trade with Rapids - USATODAY.com". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
12. "Las Vegas' Herculez Gomez makes U.S. preliminary World Cup roster". May 11, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
13. "Gomez traded from Rapids to K.C. – The Denver Post". September 3, 2008. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
14. [1]^{[dead link‍]}
15. "Down the Byline: Herculez Gomez to Puebla FC". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
16. "Pachuca signs American forward Herculez Gomez - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports". Archived from the original on May 24, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
17. "Gomez likely to train with Chivas USA | MLSsoccer.com". Archived from the original on July 4, 2010. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
18. "Mexican team Pachuca puts entire squad up for sale - Goal.com". May 4, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
19. Epperley, Drew (June 2011). "Mexican Primera Transfer Rumors: Herculez Gomez Moves To Estudiantes Tecos, DaMarcus Beasley Observes Pachuca Training". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
20. "Mexican Apertura 2011 Round 2: Free-scoring Monterrey, Santos highlight exciting weekend - Goal.com". August 1, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
21. "Gringo Report: Gomez scores last-minute winner for Tecos | MLSsoccer.com". Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
22. "Gomez headed to Santos Laguna". December 10, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
23. "Santos Laguna 2-1 Monterrey: Guerreros and Herculez Gomez hoist Clausura trophy". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
24. "American Exports: Herculez Gomez completes loan move to Tigres UANL | MLSsoccer.com". Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
25. "TFC signs Hérculez Gómez". Toronto FC. Archived from the original on August 9, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
26. Seattle Sounders add veteran striker Herculez Gomez | Seattle Sounders FC
27. "Herculez Gomez Joins ESPN as Soccer Studio Analyst". January 17, 2017.
28. "Gomez reignites career in Mexico - News - FOX Sports on MSN". Archived from the original on June 4, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
29. "Two Strikers Score Their Way Into the Picture". The New York Times. May 17, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
30. "Klinsmann Names 23-Player Roster to Compete in 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup". USsoccer.com. U.S. Soccer. June 27, 2013. Archived from the original on July 10, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
31. "Gold Cup: Herculez Gomez leaves US team ahead of quarterfinals". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. July 17, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
32. "HERCULEZ GOMEZ - ESPN MediaZone". espnmediazone.com. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
33. "Big month of May for the Gomez brothers | on the Mat | Worlds Largest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gi and No Gi Belt Database". Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
34. "USA 1–0 Panama – as it happened". Guardian UK. July 28, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2023.

External links

• Herculez Gomez – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Herculez Gomez at Major League Soccer
• Herculez Gomez at Liga MX (archive) (in Spanish)
• Herculez Gomez – Liga MX stats at MedioTiempo.com (archived) (in Spanish)
• Herculez Gomez at Soccerway
• Herculez Gomez at National-Football-Teams.com
• "Current Herculez Gomez News at followUSsoccer.com". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2010.