Herculez Gomez Notches Hat Trick in Club Tijuana Debut

Herculez Gomez began his career at Club Tijuana in fine fashion, notching a second-half hat trick in his team’s 6-0 romp over Honduran club Victoria in the CONCACAF Champions League. The pick of the bunch is this sumptuous chip over the keeper.

Here are Gomez’s other two goals:

An injury sidelined Gomez for nearly two months, which cost him a chance to participate in U.S. World Cup qualifiers, including the clincher vs. Mexico in Columbus, Ohio. The time on the sidelines apparently allowed him to work on his beard game, which is strong and powerful.

Expect Gomez to get called back into the U.S. camp next month for the remaining qualifiers vs. Jamaica and Panama. Gomez figures to be among the last handful of players fighting for a spot on the 23-man roster that will go to Brazil next June. The U.S. striker pool seems a little deeper than it did at the beginning of the year. Jozy Altidore is the clear first choice and Clint Dempsey is on the team, either up front or the midfielder. The emergence of Aron Johannsson and rebirth of Eddie Johnson might make it harder for Gomez, who made the 2010 World Cup Roster.

Either way, it’s been a good week for Americans playing in Mexico. Jose Torres had a nice long range effort earlier in the week.