Gonzalo Pineda didn’t wait long to find his next challenge.
The former Sounders FC midfielder and longtime Mexican international has joined the broadcast team for Univision Deportes, the top Spanish-language sports network in the United States and a broadcasting partner for Major League Soccer.
Pineda, 33, announced his retirement earlier this week during a press conference in Mexico City. He spent 11 seasons playing with a series of clubs in Mexico before he capped his career with two seasons in Seattle, where he appeared in 53 regular-season games.
A veteran with the Mexican national teams for five years, Pineda earned 44 caps with El Tri between 2004-08. He appeared in five games during the 2005 Confederations Cup before later starting three games for Mexico during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, when Mexico reached the Round of 32.
“I always wanted to retire in a good moment in my career,” he told ESPN Deportes this week. “Seattle Sounders gave me the opportunity to return at that moment, to be a starter again. I wanted to retire with a good taste in my mouth, it was a decision I took with my family, and I believe that it’s the right time to do it.”
It's unclear how long Pineda will stay on with Univision, though the former Sounders man said this week he would like to begin a career in coaching at some point.
Univision Deportes’ portfolio of rights includes MLS, 11 of the 18 teams in Mexico’s Liga MX, the Mexican national team, the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams, the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League and this summer’s Copa America Centenario, among others.
The network also announced Tuesday that it has obtained the U.S. Spanish-language broadcast rights to all UEFA national team competitions from 2018 to 2022.
Univision Deportes shared an image Tuesday night of Pineda on air with the network in its Florida-based studio, joined by celebrated broadcaster Luis Omar Tapia as well as Juan Carlos Osorio, the former MLS head coach now in charge of the Mexican national team.
