LOOKING IN ON: SOCCER

Herculez Gomez likes being wanted, so he welcomed the Dec. 1 trade that sent him from the Los Angeles Galaxy to the Colorado Rapids.

"Three years ago, I was waived," said the Las Vegas native. "You want to be wanted, the rest is gravy. Wherever you go, you're meant to go."

He has weighed the benefits, too, having researched newspapers in Colorado.

In Manhattan Beach, Calif., he was renting an apartment with two roommates - including defender Ugo Ihemelu, who was dealt to Colorado with Gomez - for $2,400 a month. In Denver, he has estimated that the monthly mortgage on a four-bedroom house should run about $1,200.

Gomez's excitement about the cost of living in his new home is equalled by the possibility of getting paid well for his services. He said two phone conversations with Rapids general manager Charles R. Wright went well.

"They gave up a big-time player," he said of former two-time Major League Soccer keeper of the year Joe Cannon. "I want to be treated like one of those high-expectation players."

Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo, a 12-time All-Star and the player of the '80s in the defunct Major Indoor Soccer League, told Gomez and Ihemelu that he would build the Rapids around them.

Gomez, 24, helped the Galaxy win the MLS Cup two seasons ago. Colorado lost its two MLS Cup appearances, including a loss to Houston in the semifinals in November.

"That's a great feeling," Gomez said. "(Clavijo) plans to have us come in and immediately contribute. He said he thinks I'm that player We have the experience that not a lot of other players have. He said that's what they were lacking."

Despite winning its second MLS Cup championship in 2005, the Galaxy hierarchy changed dramatically in March. President and General Manager Doug Hamilton suffered a fatal heart attack four minutes into a flight from Costa Rica, and Alexi Lalas was brought in to run the organization. He canned coach Steve Sampson and replaced him with Frank Yallop, the former coach of the Canadian national team and of the San Jose Earthquakes.

Cannon once played for Yallop, and the goalkeeper also is friends with Galaxy striker Landon Donovan. Longtime L.A. keeper Kevin Hartman has been dealt to Kansas City.

Still, Gomez said, he never thought the transition with Lalas would affect him.

"I did think my job was secure," Gomez said. "I was definitely a fan favorite. And I thought, with the (low) salary I had, it would be stupid of them to get rid of me."

Gomez now gets a fresh start where he's wanted. We also hear another MLS team covets him, so another off-season move might be in the works.

As for Lalas, the Galaxy missed the playoffs for the first time in 2006.

Adieu to Adu?

What started as a tantalizing venture to England ended up with Freddie Adu landing in Salt Lake City.

Huh?

It's likely that Adu, the 17-year-old American striker who couldn't even crack this country's World Cup national team last summer, was just making a promotional tour last month when he spent two weeks training with Manchester United.

Or was that a promotional stunt, courtesy of Nike (which sponsors both Adu and Man U) and the Glazers, the Americans who own the Red Devils and are so despised by much of the team's fan base?

"It is more commercially led than football driven because Adu is supposedly well short of the standards expected at Old Trafford," Sunday Express chief football correspondent John Richardson told ESPN. "Although you are not likely to hear that."

We'd like to hear what Man U boss Sir Alex Ferguson really thought about that trial, though.

Besides, Adu trained with the Academy team, not with Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo of the first flight.

Adu turns 18, the magic age to acquire a pro contract, in June. But don't expect United to come calling, first and foremost because of strict British work-permit laws. Play three-quarters of your national team's games, then the Brits start to even think about you.

If Man U had genuine interest in Adu, maybe it has a way to bend that major obstacle. That hardly seems the case. In the meantime, watch Adu for Real Salt Lake in an MLS city near you.

Corner kicks

Oswaldo Sanchez, Mexico's goalkeeper whose father died on the eve of the World Cup, manned the nets when Chivas Guadalajara beat Toluca, 2-1, for its 11th Mexican league title two weeks ago ...

Can we finally dismiss those rankings by FIFA, the world's governing body? Any rating that had the U.S. higher than England before the World Cup can be laughed at, anyway. But then the final ranking names Brazil as the team of the year over Italy? Ziti is running out of our nostrils, we're laughing so hard ...

It appears former UNLV ace Boomer Arbelaez's tryout with the Galaxy in Los Angeles in January is still a go ...

Downtown Las Vegas Soccer Club President Roger Tabor left recently, with his three boys and wife, to Italy for the holidays. We hear they're eyeing an AS Roma game, likely to watch star striker Francesco Totti on Saturday against Cagliari at Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Divertiti, Tabors.

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