He joined Maturana while he became coach ofColombia and was his assistant at the1987 Copa America where Colombia got third place. He also helped qualify the team to the1990 FIFA World Cup and1994 edition as well. This was during the so-called golden generation of Colombian football. In 1995, he was named head coach of Colombia and qualified them for the1998 FIFA World Cup Colombia's fourth appearance overall and third consecutive appearance at the tournament. They went out at group stage with one win and two losses.
He successfully ledEcuador to their firstWorld Cup finals in 2002.[2] However, he resigned after a disappointing performance by the Ecuadorian team at the2004 Copa América.
During the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, he was a commentator for Canal RCN.
On 5 May 2010, theColombian Football Federation announced that Gómez was appointed as the successor of Eduardo Lara, who left the selection after failing to qualify for the2010 FIFA World Cup finals.
On 13 February 2012, he took charge of Independiente Medellin, six months after resigning as coach of the national team.[3]
On 15 February 2014, Gómez was announced the new manager ofPanama. He led Panama to the semi-finals of the2015 Gold Cup, where Panama were controversially eliminated by Mexico. After the match, he publicly criticizedMark Geiger's decisions, and went on to say that he "deeply thought of retiring" after that moment.[4] Panama finished third after defeating the United States in the match for third place. On 22 January 2016, Gómez was named2015 CONCACAF Men's Coach of the Year.[5]
On 10 October 2017, he ledPanama to qualify for the2018 FIFA World Cup, the country's debut in this competition.[6] On July 17, 2018 he stepped down as Panama'shead coach.[7] Gomez said an "emotional farewell".[8]
On 1 August 2018, Gomez returned to Ecuador as head coach of the national team.[9] Ecuador had a disastrous performance at the2019 Copa America, where they only gained one point against Japan. After Ecuador's loss in the opening match against Uruguay, Gomez said to the press that at halftime, with Ecuador losing 3-0, he told his team in the dressing room, "There is nothing we can do, just make sure they don't score anymore goals on us." This statement was seen as disrespectful by the Ecuadorian press, and doubts were already raised over his management.[10] After the tournament, Gomez stated that he would not resign, and his objective was to remain with the national team to coach the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. However, on 1 August 2019, Gomez was dismissed.[11]
In October 2021, Gomez was announced as the new head coach of theHonduras national team, replacingFabián Coito.[12] On 10 April 2022, Gomez was sacked from theHonduras national team after just nine games, losing eight and only drawing once. Honduras finished in last place of the octogonal with just three points.[13][14]
On 16 November 2022, Gómez returned to his home country after being named manager ofAtlético Bucaramanga for the 2023 season,[15] but resigned fourteen days later, before officially taking over the club. On 15 March 2023, he was announced as the new manager of Colombian clubJunior,[16] which he coached until 17 August when he resigned following Junior's elimination from the2023 Copa Colombia.[17]
On 2 January 2024, Gómez was appointed as manager ofÁguilas Doradas,[18] being officially presented by the club thirteen days later.[19] On 28 March, two months after his signing, Gómez and the club reached an agreement for his departure after four wins, five draws and six losses.[20]
On 6 August 2011, at the pub "El Bembe" in Bogotá, Gómezattacked an unidentified woman. According to witnesses, Gómez hit the woman at least four times near the entrance of the pub where he was accompanied by the woman minutes before.[21] When the facts were known, Gómez released a statement asking for forgiveness for his behavior and resigned to his participation as a member of the technical committee of the U-20 World Football Championship.[22] However multiple organizations, like 'Casa de la Mujer', expressed their discontent with Gómez's actions and asked for his resignation as manager of the Colombian football team.[23] Finally because of pressure from the media, the Colombian football team's sponsors, political and social celebrities and the general public, he resigned as the manager of the Colombian football team.[24]
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Media related toHernán Darío Gómez at Wikimedia Commons
