Herculez Gomez

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.

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…

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.

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.