Herculez Gomez American Footballer Born 1982 in Los Angeles

Early life

Herculez Gomez was born on 6 April 1982 in Los Angeles and is the oldest of five children in a Mexican-American family. He spent his earliest years in Oxnard, California, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of nine. He attended Las Vegas High School and grew up speaking both English and Spanish. His younger brother, Ulysses Gomez, became a professional mixed martial arts fighter.

Career

After finishing school, Gomez travelled to Mexico in 2000 and joined Puebla, then a second-division side, though the spell was brief. He came back to the United States in 2001 and won a place with the San Diego Gauchos at an open tryout. A 17-goal season for the Gauchos in 2002 earned him a move into Major League Soccer with the LA Galaxy, and he was part of the squad that won the 2002 MLS Cup.

His best year at the Galaxy was 2005. Playing as a striker while Landon Donovan was away with the national team, he scored 11 league goals, helped the club take both the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup, and was named the club's most valuable player. He shared the Open Cup top-scorer honour that season. In December 2006 he was traded to the Colorado Rapids, and in 2008 he moved to the Kansas City Wizards.

Gomez signed for Puebla in January 2010 and scored ten goals in the Mexican season, sharing the top-scorer place; it was the first time an American player had led a foreign league in goals. He then played for Pachuca and Estudiantes Tecos before joining Santos Laguna in December 2011. With Santos he won the Clausura 2012 championship, which made him the first player to have won both an MLS Cup and a Mexican Primera División title. Later stops were Club Tijuana from 2013, a loan spell at Tigres UANL, and a return to Puebla, where he took part in a Copa MX win in 2015. In August 2015 he joined Toronto FC, and after leaving them early in 2016 he signed with the Seattle Sounders, winning a second MLS Cup. He retired from playing in January 2017.

For the United States, he was in the squad for the 2007 Copa América and won his first cap as a substitute against Argentina. After a successful club season in Mexico he was picked for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, scoring in a friendly against the Czech Republic shortly before the squad was named, and he played in three of the team's four matches in South Africa, including the round-of-16 game with Ghana. In 2012 he returned to the national side, scoring against Brazil and then in World Cup qualifiers against Antigua and Barbuda and Jamaica. His last appearance came at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which the United States won.

When his playing days ended, Gomez joined ESPN as an analyst, working on studio coverage of MLS and U.S. national team games. He also co-hosts podcasts, including one on Major League Soccer and the national team with Max Bretos, and another on Liga MX and Mexican players abroad with Sebastian Salazar.

Recognition

Gomez shared the Liga MX Bicentenario Golden Boot in 2010 and the Copa MX Clausura top-scorer award in 2015. At the Galaxy he was named player of the year in 2005. In his broadcasting career he received a Telly Award in 2023 and an Emmy nomination in 2024. Las Vegas presented him with the Key to the City, and 6 April has been declared "Herculez Gomez Day" in Nevada.

Personal life

Gomez identifies proudly as Chicano. His brother Ulysses is a professional fighter.