GUADALAJARA, Mexico – American striker Herculez Gomez will play in the green-and-white stripes of Santos Laguna next season, sources confirmed to MLSSoccer.com, after being sold by Estudiantes Tecos.
The 2010 World Cup veteran will be officially confirmed this week as a new signing at one of the most successful clubs in Mexico over the past few years; Santos have reached three of the last four playoff finals and play Tigres UANL on Sunday evening for the second leg of the finals (7 pm ET; TeleFutura, Telemundo).
Gomez, 29, only spent six months in Guadalajara with Estudiantes Tecos, but was the club’s top scorer in the Apertura 2011 with seven goals. But with Tecos battling against relegation, the club was open to selling Gomez in order to finance the arrival of a boatload of new faces that are expected in the coming weeks.
Santos becomes Gomez's fourth club during his two-year stint south of the border. He moved first to Puebla in January 2010, then Pachuca, before Estudiantes Tecos came in last summer.
Mexican national team legend Benjamín Galindo will become Gomez’s new coach. Galindo took over in September after former US national team coach Bob Bradley had been interviewed for the post.
Gomez faces a matchup against MLS competition with his new team on March 7 in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals when Santos play the Seattle Sounders. The former MLSer suited up for the second-division version of the Sounders back in 2003 while on loan from the LA Galaxy.
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America. He can be reached via tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com.
