PHILADELPHIA - Playing across the Atlantic Ocean away from his family, girlfriend and friends is tough for Temple’s senior midfielder Jorge Gomez Sanchez.
Before every game, Gomez wears a pink bracelet and a purple bracelet with pink dots on his left wrist to remind him of his family and of his girlfriend.
Photos of his family, girlfriend and his former team back in Spain, the European University of Madrid, hide under his shin guards so his loved ones are still with him before and during every game.
“It’s so I can remember where I came from and I play for them,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez is a native of Talavera De La Reina, Spain, a city with a population of 88, 856 located in Spain’s Toledo province.
Temple men’s soccer head coach David MacWilliams took the trip to Madrid, to scout Sanchez back in March of 2014.
While in Spain’s capital, MacWilliams said Gomez’s play stood out amongst the other competition he faced playing Division III soccer in Europe.
“Just the way he competed, just the way he made his runs off the ball,” MacWilliams said. “And it was a very tough game that he played in. It reminded me a lot of the college game, so I thought he would translate well to the college game.”
After that game, MacWilliams caught up with Gomez outside of the stadium with hopes to recruit him to North Broad Street.
MacWilliams said his pitch included how big of a role Sanchez would play in his system at Temple, the education and the city of Philadelphia.
“I preferred to finish my major here because I think having the studies from the United States is very useful when you grow up and try to find a job,” Sanchez said.
Since joining the Owls in the 2015 season, Sanchez has made an immediate impact of the offensive side of the ball.
In his junior season, Sanchez led the Owls in goals, points and was second on the team in assists. His 13 goals last year, currently rank fifth all-time in program history for most goals in a single season.
Temple senior midfielder Jorge Gomez Sanchez (photo courtesy Joseph V. Labolito/Temple Athletics)
Through six games this season, Sanchez has lead the Owls to a 4-2 record with six goals, which ranks him tied for fourth in the country with five other players.
MacWilliams said every time Sanchez steps on the field he’s determined to score a goal.
“His runs off the ball are top-notch,” MacWilliams said. “It’s really hard to teach some of those and develop those at this stage. He has them. And he only needs a small amount of space to score. He’s very opportunistic, he can finish in tight spaces.”
Sanchez helped lead to Temple to their first national ranking in 18 years last season.
The Owls finished the 2015 season losing four of their last five games to finish with an overall record of 10-7-2, which disqualified them from competing in the NCAA Men’s Soccer tournament.
But, Sanchez hopes to end his senior year on a better note.
“This year I think is our year,” Sanchez said. “The last two games we were really bad, we didn’t focus on the game. I think we have to recover, bounce back, start winning games, because our goal this year is to get to the NCAA tournament.”