Mauricio Pineda isn’t one to spoil a good surprise.
“My parents kept asking me Friday, Saturday, like ‘Do you know? Do you know?’ But it wasn’t official yet, so I wasn’t saying anything.”
The rookie midfielder had a hunch he might see the field in the Fire's 2020 regular season opener against the Seattle Sounders, but decided to keep it spoiler-free until he heard it from head coach Raphael Wicky himself.
In the early hours before kickoff on Sunday morning, the Pineda family text thread's wish came true.
Pineda became the Fire’s 12th Homegrown signing to earn his professional debut when he took the field among Wicky’s first starting XI of the regular season.