GUADALAJARA, Mexico – After a slow start to his time at UANL Tigres, things have picked up for American striker Herculez Gomez since he started – and scored – in a Copa MX game at Querétaro on Sept. 29. It was the same match in which Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho made his Mexican soccer debut.
Gomez has since started in Tigres' last three Liga MX matches, a run in which they have won twice and drawn once. They currently sit in 5th place in the overall table.
“I was fortunate enough to score a goal, it was Ronaldinho’s debut and I think that lit a fire underneath me and I’ve run with it,” Gomez told MLSsoccer.com in a wide-ranging phone interview on Wednesday.
Gomez moved to Tigres on a six-month loan in June following a difficult year at Club Tijuana, where a knee injury hampered both his playing time, his form and his chances of making the 2014 US World Cup team.
The Monterrey-based side are Liga MX’s equivalent of the Seattle Sounders in terms of their supporters' reputation – tickets are hard to come by for games in the 42,000-capacity Estadio Universitario – and Gomez is content at the Monterrey club, aiming to do enough to stick around at the end of the loan.
“I’m very happy where I’m at right now and I’d like to continue working to stay here,” explained Gomez. “But I do understand that this is a business, I do understand that I am here on loan, that I’m somebody else’s [Tijuana's] product.”
If a deal isn’t struck between Tigres and Tijuana, Gomez would either have to negotiate with Club Tijuana and another institution, or return to the border team with which he signed a three-year deal (with a possible one-year extension) in June 2013.
He wouldn’t be opposed to the latter scenario if it came down to it. At Xolos, Venezuelan coach César Farías has since been replaced by Daniel Guzmán, who has brought a new dynamic to the team, switching things up quite radically in terms of tactics.
“I feel I like I have something to prove there. I left unfinished business,” Gomez said about Tijuana.
MLS also remains close to Gomez’s heart and he would “absolutely” like to play again north of the border, although he says he hasn’t received any offers from the league since the one he rejected from Kansas City before he moved south to Puebla in early 2010.
But he still follows the league closely and he's been drawn to the recent push for an MLS expansion club in his hometown of Las Vegas.
Gomez took the long road to becoming a professional, leaving his native Nevada as a teenager in pursuit of a pro soccer career. He’d like other youngsters from the area not to be forced to do the same and he is backing the Findlay Sports and Entertainment Group’s bid to bring an MLS franchise to the Sin City.
“Their vision, everything they are going for … I’m sold,” Gomez said. “I really feel like this is a young, exciting new ownership that can bring something to the table in MLS.
“And Vegas is dying for a sports team,” he added.
The World Cup 2010 veteran – whose April 6 birthday was named “Herculez Gomez Day” in Las Vegas back in 2012 – has spoken to the group and one of the topics discussed was how he could help out.
“I’m absolutely 100 percent convinced that I can have or hold some sort of role helping that team,” he said. “I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch because I’d still like to [play] for a while, but I see great potential in helping that team out, maybe in an administrative role.”
But while he is lending his support to what would potentially be Las Vegas’ only major sports franchise, the 32-year-old is also keen to stress that his career on the field is still his main focus. Gomez is focused on propelling Tigres to a deep playoff run and starting against Cruz Azul in front of another packed home crowd at Estadio Universitario on Saturday.
“You’re talking to a guy who played in front of 250 fans when I was playing in San Diego with the Gauchos [of USL, now defunct]," Gomez said. "So to know your home stadium is going to be packed, that’s something special. The fans are something else, definitely a big 12th man. Not many players get to feel the kind of support we feel.”
Tom Marshall covers Americans based in Mexico for MLSsoccer.com.
