Former U.S. international striker Herculez Gomez trained with the Seattle Sounders on Monday, but there is no indication from the club how long the World Cup veteran will stay in camp or if he is close to signing a contract.
Gomez, 33, was let go by Toronto FC earlier this month after he scored one goal in seven appearances with the club in 2015. His brief stay with the Reds marked his first year back in Major League Soccer since he carved out a comfortable career in Mexico, playing with six different teams from 2010-15 and leveraging his success there into a spot on the U.S. World Cup team in 2010.
The Sounders declined to comment on Gomez or his status with the club to the media on Monday. Head coach Sigi Schmid confirmed the club is looking at options for roster additions, but the team is also encouraged by the play of young backups like Darwin Jones, Aaron Kovar and Oalex Anderson.
“We’re looking right now at players,” Schmid said. “We’ll see what happens in terms of our depth. We will believe in our younger guys. Darwin came in and had a chance to equalize the game. Oalex, this week, maybe it’s another opportunity for him. Kovar hits a nice cross. We have guys that are gaining their confidence."
Gomez made his MLS debut in 2003 with the LA Galaxy and later played for Colorado and Kansas City before he left for Mexico after the 2009 season. He’s scored 24 goals and added 13 assists over 131 career appearances in MLS, including a career-high 11 goals with LA in 2005, when he won an MLS Cup with the Galaxy.
Gomez has played with the Sounders before, but not in the franchise's MLS era. He appeared in 17 games with the USL club in 2003 while on loan from the Galaxy.
He's also found success against the Sounders, most notably while playing with Mexican side Santos Laguna three years ago. Gomez scored the lone goal of a 1-0 win for Santos at CenturyLink Field in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals in April 2013, and Santos went on to eliminate the Sounders 2-0 on aggregate.
He also scored three goals against the Sounders over the teams' two-leg series in the CCL quarterfinals in 2012, which Santos won, 7-3.
Gomez has scored six goals in 24 career caps with the USMNT, but hasn’t featured for Klinsmann’s squad since March 2013. He appeared in eight World Cup qualifying games in the buildup to Brazil, but failed the make Klinsmann’s final roster.
Gomez would potentially add some veteran depth to a Sounders front line that has used Clint Dempsey, Nelson Valdez and Jordan Morris in four games across all competitions this year. That front line has yet to score a goal in the run of play in 2016, with midfielder Osvaldo Alonso grabbing the Sounders’ first goal of the MLS regular season in a 2-1 loss at Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
The Sounders will return to action against Vancouver Whitecaps FC this Saturday (7 p.m. PT; Q13/KIRO 97.3 FM/El Rey 1360 AM).
