Herculez Gomez

Hérculez Gómez Hurtado (born April 6, 1982) is a retired American soccer player. He currently works as a commentator in both English and Spanish for ESPN.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Gómez and the second or maternal family name is Hurtado.
Hérculez Gómez
Personal information
Full name Hérculez Gómez Hurtado
Date of birth (1982-04-06) April 6, 1982
Place of birth Los Angeles, California, United States
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing 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 Estudiantes Tecos 16 (7)
2012–2013 Santos Laguna 45 (13)
2013–2015 Tijuana 21 (1)
2014 → UANL (loan) 15 (1)
2015 → Puebla (loan) 8 (1)
2015 Toronto FC 7 (1)
2016 Seattle Sounders FC 21 (0)
Total 345 (85)
National team
2007–2013 United States 24 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Gómez, the oldest of five children, was born in Oxnard, California[1] to Mexican-American parents.[2] He grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada,[3] and played on the soccer team at Las Vegas High School.[4]

Professional

Club career

Early career

Gómez started his career in 2001 with Cruz Azul of the México 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.[5]

MLS

Gómez 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.[6] 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. Donovan's absence gave Gómez many more starts at striker, and he was able to shine as a breakout goal-scorer.[7]

He scored the game-winning goal in the 2005 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, then helped the Galaxy to a rare Cup 'double' when they also won the 2005 MLS Cup. Gómez 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.[8]

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.[9]

In December 2006, Gomez was traded to the Colorado Rapids along with Ugo Ihemelu in exchange for Joe Cannon.[10] 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. Gómez tore his ACL during training with the Rapids in September of that year and was forced to undergo a lengthy recovery process.[11]

Gómez 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.[12] 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.[13]

Mexico

After being released by Kansas City in late 2009, Gómez experienced a career revival after signing with Mexican club Puebla F.C. in January 2010.[14] He scored ten goals in the 2010 Mexican season[15] to tie for the lead for most goals; this feat marked the first time any American player led a foreign league in goals.[16] He moved to Pachuca in the summer 2010 window.

Pachuca placed Gómez, along with its entire squad, on the transfer list.[17] During the transfer window he moved along with teammate Braulio Luna to Estudiantes Tecos.[18] Gómez 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.[19] On August 19, Gómez scored the winner as a sub against his former club Pachuca.[20]

Cash-strapped Estudiantes Tecos were forced into selling Gómez to league rivals Santos Laguna in December 2011.[21] Gómez 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.[22] In 2013, he moved to Xolos de Tijuana. After struggling with Tijuana, he was loaned to Tigres UANL for the 2014–15 season.[23] 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.[24]

After his release from Toronto at the beginning of the 2016 MLS season, Gomez joined Seattle Sounders FC.[25] He won MLS Cup for the second time in his career. He retired following the season and joined ESPN as an analyst.[26]

International
Gomez warming up before a national team match against Belgium in 2013

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.[27]

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.[28] 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.[29][30]

International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
01. May 25, 2010 Rentschler Field, East Hartford, United States  Czech Republic 2–2 2–4 Friendly
02. June 5, 2010 Ruimsig Stadium, Roodepoort, South Africa  Australia 3–1 3–1
03. May 30, 2012 FedExField, Landover, United States  Brazil 1–2 1–4
04. June 8, 2012 Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, United States  Antigua and Barbuda 3–1 3–1 2014 World Cup qualification
05. September 11, 2012 Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, United States  Jamaica 1–0 1–0
06. July 5, 2013 Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States  Guatemala 1–0 6–0 Friendly

Career statistics

Club
As of January 17, 2017
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
USA League Cup League Cup CONCACAF Total
2003Los Angeles GalaxyMajor League Soccer1000000010
2003Seattle SoundersA-League171004000211
2005Los Angeles GalaxyMajor League Soccer22114641003018
2006305100000315
2007Colorado Rapids204110000215
2008172000000172
2008Kansas City Wizards8100100091
2009260200000280
Mexico League Cup League Cup CONCACAF Total
2009–10PueblaLiga MX151000––1510
2010–11Pachuca29500––295
2011–12Estudiantes Tecos16700––167
Santos Laguna17700–662313
2012–1333800–1034311
2013–14Tijuana21000–43253
2014–15UANL (loan)15075––225
Puebla (loan)13172––203
Canada League Cup League Cup CONCACAF Total
2015Toronto FCMajor League Soccer710020–81
USA League Cup MLS Cup CONCACAF Total
2016Seattle Sounders FCMajor League Soccer2103110–251
Total USA/Canada 169251181210019233
Mexico 1313714700201216556
Career total 300622515121201235790

International
As of December 15, 2014
National teamYearAppsGoals
United States
200720
200800
200900
201062
201100
2012113
201351
Total246

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 US National Team games.[31] 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 soccer team, and Mexican players abroad.

Personal

Herculez is the brother of MMA fighter Ulysses Gomez.[32] He is of Mexican-American heritage.

Honors

Club

Los Angeles Galaxy

Santos Laguna

Puebla

Seattle Sounders

International
United States

Individual

References
  1. Player Bio: Herculez Gomez Archived May 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine on USSoccer.com. Personal information lists California as birthplace.
  2. "Herculez Gomez ready to give USA his best shot - USATODAY.com". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  3. Herculez Gomez Represents What America Is All About (June 1, 2010). Huffington Post.
  4. 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).
  5. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/luis_bueno/02/12/herculez.gomez/index.html
  6. "A road to World Cup paved with heartache". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 11, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Buddle, Gomez named to final U.S. roster". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  10. "Galaxy acquire goalkeeper Cannon in trade with Rapids - USATODAY.com". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  11. "Las Vegas' Herculez Gomez makes U.S. preliminary World Cup roster". May 11, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  12. "Gomez traded from Rapids to K.C. – The Denver Post". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  14. "Down the Byline: Herculez Gomez to Puebla FC". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 24, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. Gomez likely to train with Chivas USA | MLSsoccer.com
  17. "Mexican team Pachuca puts entire squad up for sale - Goal.com". May 4, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  18. Epperley, Drew. "Mexican Primera Transfer Rumors: Herculez Gomez Moves To Estudiantes Tecos, DaMarcus Beasley Observes Pachuca Training". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  19. "Mexican Apertura 2011 Round 2: Free-scoring Monterrey, Santos highlight exciting weekend - Goal.com". August 1, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  20. Gringo Report: Gomez scores last-minute winner for Tecos | MLSsoccer.com
  21. "Gomez headed to Santos Laguna". December 10, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  22. "Santos Laguna 2-1 Monterrey: Guerreros and Herculez Gomez hoist Clausura trophy". Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  23. American Exports: Herculez Gomez completes loan move to Tigres UANL | MLSsoccer.com
  24. "TFC signs Hérculez Gómez". Toronto FC. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  25. Seattle Sounders add veteran striker Herculez Gomez | Seattle Sounders FC
  26. http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2017/01/herculez-gomez-joins-espn-soccer-studio-analyst/
  27. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 4, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  28. "Two Strikers Score Their Way Into the Picture". The New York Times. May 17, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  29. "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.
  30. "Gold Cup: Herculez Gomez leaves US team ahead of quarterfinals". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. July 17, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  31. "HERCULEZ GOMEZ - ESPN MediaZone". espnmediazone.com. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  32. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)


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