CHICAGO FIRE MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 3, 2026

Johan Gómez

Press Conference

Q. Johan, welcome to Chicago. Obviously in your career, you've played a lot of places. You came up as a striker you played for the U.S. as a winger. You play wingback at Braunschweig. What do you expect to play here and where are you hoping to see the field?

JOHAN GÓMEZ: First of all, nice to see you. I saw your message, by the way. I wasn't able to respond just because it wasn't out yet in the news, but that's a good question. I think one of my strengths, I'm familiar with the game itself. I'm very flexible. As you mentioned last year, I was playing as a wing back. I wouldn't say that's necessarily my favorite position, but if you ask anybody in Germany, they will tell you that's one of my strengths as well, just putting myself in the needs of whatever the team needs. But I'm someone who really likes to get actions offensively, whether that's creating opportunities for my teammates, for myself or just pressing and winning the ball in a high position. That's what I mostly prefer, but at the end of the day, I'll play wherever the coach puts me.

Q. Hi, Johan. Thanks for joining us. What is it that you learned coming from lower divisions in Germany? You came up through one of the top MLS academies. Made the move to Europe. What are you coming back with as lessons for your time there?

JOHAN GÓMEZ: Yeah, I think there's a lot of lessons. I can't really say I'm too familiar with MLS as I've never played in it. I'm excited to learn a lot more. But a lot of the lessons I would say I learned especially playing in Germany in front of so many fans is to learn how to deal with "pressure" especially in a relegation battle. These people live for football and these games actually really change people's moods and their lives for that following week.

So you kind of learn to live with that pressure of, hey, if I don't perform today, maybe a certain fan will have a bad week, maybe take it home to his family. Hopefully not, but, yeah, I think that's the main lesson I took away from it, just having that responsibility on the pitch.

And although I'm blessed to be able to do this as my job and it's something I enjoy, it is also something that people pay to see and at the end of the day, you have to perform so just that expectation of performance is the biggest lesson I took away from my time in Europe.

Q. (Question in Spanish.)

JOHAN GÓMEZ: (Response in Spanish.)

Q. (Question in Spanish.)

Q. Johan, Gregg is somebody who knows the Bundesliga very well and he's wanted you for a long time. How much of a boost is that knowing that a top coach like that with that knowledge wanted to bring you in?

JOHAN GÓMEZ: Yeah, that's a great question. I think that was one of the main reasons I wanted to come already in January. Gregg was great not only with me but with my agents, with my family. Something that not a lot of people know is that he flew to Germany late last year to visit with me and my family. My wife was here in Chicago with my mother-in-law just visiting family and he let them come tour the facilities.

So when you have a coach like that who is so kind to your family and also to me and shows that he wants you and is patient, considering the fact that my old club blocked the transfer multiple times actually, it shows that at some point, you may just want to make the move and try to give your all to make it all worth it for him.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, now we will go to Zoom.

Q. Johan, Happy Thursday... (speaking Spanish.) I want to ask you -- I had to cross out a couple questions here because they have already been asked. I don't want to sound repetitive here but having represented the United States team under 20, under 23 and now this move to Chicago and now being with Gregg, a former national head coach, do you see this as an opportunity to break into the senior national team for USA?

JOHAN GÓMEZ: Yeah, first of all, that's a good question. I think that was something that Gregg and I spoke about, especially in January before the World Cup, that it was a chance, knowing Gregg, knowing his standing with the national team.

I think something that an old academy director of mine told me in Luchi Gonzales back in FC Dallas. You don't necessarily have to think about the big things quite yet. Once you do the small things correctly, the small things will come. I'm convinced that once I find my footing here in Chicago and I'm able to help not only myself but the team, yeah, of course, that's a goal. But I think those things will come if I just focus on myself and helping the team to the best of my ability.

Q. (Question in Spanish.)

JOHAN GÓMEZ: (Response in Spanish.)

Q. I'm curious two things. First off, how important was it to get the mother-in-law's approval to move to Chicago and what did she think of the facility? And in terms of going from battling it out for a relegation battle going to a team that's in win-now mode, how does that change anything or if anything just provide a different mindset considering you're going for the top instead of avoiding the bottom?

JOHAN GÓMEZ: Yeah, first of all, my mother-in-law is very supportive. She loved seeing the facilities. She was talking about them a lot and so that was a good sign for sure. But, yeah, in terms of the relegation question, I think that's the thing with promotion and relegation. I think if you're fighting for titles or fighting for promotion, the pressure is similar because every game counts regardless but every came counts for a different reason.

I don't come here with the mindset of, oh my gosh, there's no relegation, I'm so happy I don't have that pressure anymore. Quite a contrary. I think it's very clear what Gregg's goal is and what this team's goal is and you see it every day when you walk in on the TV, we have goals and I think it's important to abide to those and to answer every enter every game with pressure to some extent, obviously.

It starts on Saturday already in Toronto and we want to win that game. I don't think it's that different. You're not scrapping at the bottom for every point. That can be a little stressful. Now the stress is maybe a positive stress, looking to achieve the most that the team can.

Q. (Question in Spanish.)

JOHAN GÓMEZ: (Answer in Spanish.)

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Johan. Thank you, everyone.

DraftScripts by ASAP Sports...