USA boss Jurgen Klinsmann spoke on Wednesday afternoon about Herculez Gomez being on his team's radar, and the forward responded with more goals on Wednesday night.
U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann insists that Santos Laguna forward Herculez Gomez has been "on the radar screen" for a call back in with the national team.Gomez hasn't played for the Stars and Stripes since August 2010, but he has been making headlines with his club team in recent weeks, scoring 11 goals in his last eight games.
"I've seen quite a few games of him over the last six, seven months," Klinsmann said. "I know Herculez and I know his qualities. So he's constantly being watched. Hopefully he continues that goal scoring period, and the more he scores, the more he makes a positive notes out there, the bigger his chances to get the call.
"It's as simple as that. That's our message to all of the players all of the time – keep proving your point. Keep improving where you're at with every game."
Gomez scored two goals in a CONCACAF Champions League victory over Toronto FC on Wednesday night, just hours after reporters asked Klinsmann about his possible future with the USA. It seemed clear at the time that Klinsmann was entertaining the idea.
"What we do every Monday, we get together either by phone, by conference calls, or by email. We get down to all of the players, we discuss what they did over the weekend, we're out there and watch them personally or on TV as often as we can," Klinsmann said.
"So Herculez is on the radar screen. But he's always been on the radar screen. So hopefully he can make his case stronger and stronger over the next couple of weeks."
Gomez has 11 goals in all competitions with just 12 matches played. If the case isn't strong enough by now, it might never be. Gomez has been on a run of goals that's unmatched by any other player in the U.S. national team pool.
In most years, that's not a massive claim, but at present it's quite impressive. Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore could both feasibly hit the 20-goal mark this season. Dempsey is almost certain to, needing just one goal, while Altidore would need to hit the net five times by the end of the season to get there.
Both have 30 or more games under their belt for this season. Both are also almost certain inclusions any time Klinsmann gathers his top players.
Gomez won't get 30 games this season, and he's not likely to hit 20 goals. What he will do is average somewhere between a goal every two games and a goal every game. That should be more than enough to take Gomez off the radar screen and put him in the room with the Klinsmann the next time the USA's best get together.
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