Herculez Gomez

Herculez Gomez (born April 6, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player and current sports commentator. A pioneering Chicano athlete, Gómez is the first American to win both the Liga MX and Copa MX Golden Boots, the first American to lead a foreign league in scoring, a two-time CONCACAF Champions Cup finalist, a top-10 all-time scorer in the competition, and one of the most respected bilingual voices in soccer media, particularly within CONCACAF.

Early life and background

Gomez was born in Los Angeles, California, into a Mexican-American family as the oldest of five children. His parents are from Los Altos de Jalisco, Mexico—his father from Tepatitlán and his mother from Jalostotitlán. He spent his early childhood in Oxnard before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, at age 9.

Gomez grew up bilingual and bicultural, proudly identifying as Chicano. His younger brother, Ulysses Gómez, became a professional UFC fighter.

In recognition of his cultural and athletic impact, he was awarded the Key to the City of Las Vegas, and April 6 was declared “Herculez Gomez Day” in the State of Nevada.

Career beginnings

After high school, Gomez moved to Mexico in 2000 and earned a spot with Águilas Blancas de Puebla, a second-division club. The stint was short-lived, and in 2001 he returned to the United States and earned a spot with the San Diego Gauchos of the USL through an open tryout.

Gomez scored 17 goals during the 2002 season with the Gauchos, helping earn his move into Major League Soccer.

Club career Overview

LA Galaxy During his time with the LA Galaxy, Gomez helped the club win the 2002 MLS Cup. In 2005, he recorded a breakout season with 11 league goals, while also helping the club win the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup. He was named the club's team MVP and earned the U.S. Open Cup Golden Boot that season.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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. 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 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 to Estudiantes Tecos. 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 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. After struggling with Tijuana, he was loaned to Tigres UANL 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.

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 ESPN as an analyst.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

Career statistics Club

International

Honors LA Galaxy MLS Cup: 2002, 2005 Supporters' Shield: 2002 U.S. Open Cup: 2005

Seattle Sounders FC MLS Cup: 2016

Santos Laguna Mexican Primera División: Clausura 2012

Puebla Copa MX: Clausura 2015 Supercopa MX: 2015

United States CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2013

Individual Las Vegas High School Notable Alumni U.S. Open Cup Top scorer: 2005 (Shared) LA Galaxy Silver Boot: 2005 LA Galaxy Player of the Year: 2005 L.A.R.S Player Of The Year: 2005 L.A. Media Year's Most Valuable Player: 2005 MLS Goal of the Week: Week 2 2007 Puebla Top Scorer: 2009–10 Liga MX Bicentenario Golden Boot: 2010 (Shared) Copa MX Clausura Top scorer: 2015 (Shared) Telly Award General-Sports: 2023 World Soccer Talk Awards Best Podcast Analyst: 2023 Emmy Awards Nomination: 2024