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 ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

Early life

Gomez, the oldest of five children, was born in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

to Mexican-American parents. He grew up in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, and played on the soccer team at

Las Vegas High School Las Vegas High School is a public high school in Sunrise Manor, Nevada, part of the Clark County School District. It is the oldest high school in Las Vegas and originally opened in 1905 on what was then the outskirts of town. The school's first c ...

Club career

Early career

Gomez started his career in 2001 with

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

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 LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

staff noticed him during a friendly match and he joined the team in September.

MLS

Gomez broke his foot while on loan to the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

of the

United Soccer Leagues United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

, and recovery took a long time. When he was able to play again, he joined the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He returned to the Galaxy for the 2005 season on a developmental contract, but played well enough to make it to the first team. His big chance came when Landon Donovan was called up to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. Donovan's absence gave Gomez many more starts at striker, and he was able to shine as a breakout goal-scorer. He scored the game-winning goal in the 2005

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

Final, then helped the Galaxy to a rare Cup 'double' when they also won the 2005

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

. 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. 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 Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach. Yallop is currently the head coach and sporting director of USL Championship side Monterey Bay FC. He played 13 years in England for Ipswich, including the ...

, and ended that season with five goals. In December 2006, Gomez was traded to the Colorado Rapids along with Ugo Ihemelu in exchange for Joe Cannon. He scored the first goal in the history of

Dick's Sporting Goods Park Dick's Sporting Goods Park, also known as DSG Park, is a soccer-specific stadium located in Commerce City, Colorado that is home to the Colorado Rapids men's professional soccer team. The stadium seats up to 18,061 people for soccer matches, bu ...

in his first game for Colorado, a 2-1 win over

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

on April 7, 2007. Gomez tore his ACL during training with the Rapids in September of that year and was forced to undergo a lengthy recovery process. Gomez was traded to Kansas City Wizards in exchange for allocation money, a fourth round

2009 MLS SuperDraft The 2009 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 15, 2009 in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the tenth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection was owned by the expansion Seattle Sounders FC. Unlike previous years, the SuperDraft w ...

pick and a first round 2009 MLS Supplemental Draft pick in September 2008. 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.

Mexico

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

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

in the summer 2010 window. Pachuca placed Gomez, along with its entire squad, on the transfer list. During the transfer window he moved along with teammate

Braulio Luna Braulio Mauricio Luna Guzmán (; born 8 September 1974) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Luna made his professional debut in the Mexican League Division in 1994, playing for UNAM Pumas in a 3-3 draw matc ...

Estudiantes Tecos Tecos Fútbol Club (often referred to by its nickname "Tecos") is a Mexican professional football club associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara AC. It plays its home games in the ''Estadio 3 de Marzo'' (March 3 Stadium, named for ...

. 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. On August 19, Gomez scored the winner as a sub against his former club Pachuca. Cash-strapped Estudiantes Tecos were forced into selling Gomez to league rivals

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made up o ...

in December 2011. 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. In 2013, he moved to

Club Tijuana Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, commonly known as Tijuana, or simply as ''Xoloitzcuintle, Xolos'', is a Mexican professional Football team, football club based in Tijuana. The club's badge is the founder's (Jorge Hank) hairless xoloit ...

. After struggling with Tijuana, he was loaned to

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Found ...

for the 2014–15 season. 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 Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. After his release from Toronto at the beginning of the 2016 MLS season, Gomez joined Seattle Sounders FC. He won MLS Cup for the second time in his career. He retired following the season and joined

as an analyst.

International career

Gomez was named to the United States roster for the

2007 Copa America 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

and earned his first cap as a second-half substitute against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, with his first start coming against Colombia. 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 , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

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 The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

on May 25; the next day he was named to the final 23-man squad. Gomez played in 3 out of the 4 games for the United States at the World Cup, including the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

game against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Gomez made his return to the national team in 2012, appearing in friendlies against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and scoring a goal against the latter. Later in 2012, he scored goals in World Cup qualifying against Antigua and Barbuda and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

His last national team appearance came during the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on 7 July 2013 at the ...

Broadcaster

In January 2017, Gomez announced his retirement from professional soccer, and joined the broadcasting team at

. He typically appears as a studio analyst / pundit for

ESPN FC ESPN FC (formerly ESPN SoccerNet) is a website and a U.S. television studio program covering soccer that is broadcast daily over the streaming service ESPN+. ESPN FC's origin was a website owned by ESPN Inc. Originally established in 1995 as ...

, MLS games, and US National Team games. 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 soccer team, and the Two on Tri podcast with Sebastian Salazar, where they discuss the Liga MX, the Mexico national football team, and Mexican players abroad. He and Salazar also host "Fútbol Americas" on ESPN+.

Personal life

Herculez is the brother of

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

fighter Ulysses Gomez.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

LA Galaxy *

: 2005 * U.S. Open Cup: 2005 * Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship: 2005 Santos Laguna * Mexican Primera División: Clausura 2012 Puebla *

Copa MX The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it wa ...

: Clausura 2015 Seattle Sounders FC *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Individual * U.S. Open Cup Top scorer (Shared): 2005 * Liga MX Golden Boot (Shared): Bicentenario 2010 *

Top scorer (Shared): Clausura 2015

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Herculez 1982 births Living people American soccer players American sportspeople of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American sportspeople CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players 2007 Copa América players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players American expatriate soccer players Soccer players from Nevada United States men's international soccer players LA Galaxy players Toronto FC players Colorado Rapids players Seattle Sounders FC players Sporting Kansas City players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players Club Puebla players C.F. Pachuca players Tecos F.C. footballers Santos Laguna footballers Club Tijuana footballers Tigres UANL footballers USL League Two players A-League (1995–2004) players Major League Soccer players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Liga MX players San Diego Gauchos players Expatriate footballers in Mexico American expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Association football forwards Las Vegas High School alumni