FC Tucson alum-turned-coach Pineda's familiarity with team, USL 2 key in playoff push

In FC Tucson’s first season back in USL League Two, a familiar face — both to the FCT organization and the league itself — has helped put the Men in Black on the precipice of a playoff spot heading into their final regular-season match.

Sebastian Pineda, FC Tucson’s associate head coach under head coach Mark Biagi, has helped transition FCT back to League Two — a circuit knows plenty well from his own playing days.

Pineda played for FC Tucson in 2015 and 2017 when the organization was part of the PDL (the previous name for League Two); he also played professionally for the Austin AzTex and OKC Energy.

Now sharing his experience from the sidelines, Pineda also serves as FCT’s director of recruitment and head of the FC Tucson academy team.

“He’s a big asset for a lot of reasons,” Biagi said. “He not only played in this environment, specifically FC Tucson, but also USL Two. (He) Coached in the college game, played in the college game, speaks several languages, so he’s massive and he has a great eye for talent.”

FC Tucson (6-1-4) closes out the regular season on Saturday when it hosts Arizona Arsenal SC (2-7-2) in a must-win game to keep its playoff hopes alive.

In 2015 and 2017, FC Tucson finished first in its division. It placed first four times in seven seasons in the PDL.

“I wore that jersey as a player, and I know the expectations,” Pineda said. “I know what it feels like to be on the stage every day.

“I just know what it’s like and I try to pass that to the players this club has history,” he added. “We have to live up to that.”

In 2022, the San Andres Islas, Colombia, native returned to FC Tucson to serve as an assistant for the local USL League One team and lead the USL Pro Academy side.

Before coming back to FC Tucson, Pineda was an assistant at Duquesne University and Graceland University.

“Tucson was always a special place for me so being back on the coaching staff was an amazing opportunity so when it came up I just took it and decided it was the right move,” Pineda said.

He has credentials like a master’s in sports management from the Johan Cruyff Institute in Barcelona, Spain; the Cruyff Institute, founded by the famed international soccer star and innovative manager, delivers higher education degree programs in sports management and related fields in numerous countries across the globe.

“He’s a great coach,” FC Tucson midfielder Jerod Allen said of Pineda. “He focuses on the field a lot, but he’s also taught me how to be a good man and that’s really important.”

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FC Tucson’s academy team is 4-0-2 this year.

Allen said Pineda is a big reason why the academy is undefeated.

“We’ve been doing great,” Pineda said. “It’s a good group of guys, they know each other since they were little kids so that helps with the chemistry with the team and they’ve been doing well this summer.”

Corner kicks

Although FC Tucson has won four in a row, has an unbeaten streak of eight games and one loss this season and beat Redlands FC 3-0 last week, it trails Redlands by a point for the second and final playoff spot in the Southwest Division. If Redlands upsets first-place Ventura County Fusion on Saturday, it goes to the postseason instead of FC Tucson.

“I told the guys, ‘this is why you play the game,’” Biagi said. “The higher levels you go you have more and more of these types of opportunities where you have to go and you have to play, you have to do your job and you don’t necessarily control your destiny but you have to go and perform like a professional.”

FC Tucson leads the Golden Sahuaro Trophy race to 11-5 heading into Saturday’s games with Arizona Arsenal. The race for the trophy includes all competitions between FC Tucson and Arizona Arsenal at all levels. The academy team could clinch the trophy in its 4 p.m. game against the Gunners at Kino North Grandstand.

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