This article is about the Major League Soccer player in the U.S. For the president of El Salvador, see Francisco Gómez.

Francisco Gomez (born January 25, 1979 in Watsonville, California) is an American soccer player who is currently the player-coach of Bakersfield Brigade of the USL Premier Development League.

[edit] Club career

Gomez joined the Kansas City Wizards in 1999, after playing briefly with the California Jaguars of the A-League. He saw little playing time in his first two years, however - as a rookie, he appeared in only seven games, scoring one goal, while in his second year he appeared in 14 (seven starts), scoring two goals and one assist. Gomez began to see significantly increased playing time in 2001, when he appeared in 24 games, 16 of them starts, while scoring four goals and six assists. Gomez kept something of a utility role during his later MLS career, able to play numerous positions, but not exactly integral to the team. In his six years with Kansas City, Gomez appeared in 114 games, registering 11 goals and 14 assists. After the 2004 season, Gomez was selected seventh overall in the MLS Expansion Draft by Chivas USA.

He was released by Chivas at the end of the 2005 season, and played a few games for Bakersfield Brigade in the USL Premier Development League in 2006, before moving to Miami FC in the USL First Division for the remainder of the season.

In January 2007, Gomez was hired as the new player-coach of Bakersfield Brigade.

[edit] National team

Although Gomez played a significant role for several of the United States youth national teams, he has yet to see a cap with the senior team. He captained the US in the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship, and was a significant part of the U-20 national team, playing in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria.^[1]

[edit] References