Ricardo Peláez

Born on March 14, 1963 in Mexico City, Ricardo Peláez Linares is a Mexican former professional football player and current sports director of one of Mexico's most popular and historic teams, Club Deportivo Guadalajara. As a player, Ricardo Peláez debuted with the Guadalajara team's rival, Club América in 1985. Two years later he joined Club Necaxa, becoming the Mexican team's all-time leading scorer. Ricardo also played and ended his professional football career with Chivas from 1998 to 2000. One of his most memorable accomplishments as a football player was his performance on the Mexican national soccer team during the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, scoring two goals in the tournament. After retiring as a professional football player, Ricardo stuck to the sport he knows and became a football commentator with Televisa Deportes, as well as an analyst with ESPN Deportes and ESPN Mexico. In between the two television gigs, he held a series of managerial positions in Liga MX, the Mexican football league. He became the sports director of Club América in November 2011, winning two league tournaments in 2013 and 2014 and the Concachampions tournament in 2015 and 2016. After his stint with Club América, Ricardo became the sports director of Cruz Azul, winning the Liga MX Cup in 2018 and the Supercopa MX in 2019. After quitting as Cruz Azul's sports director live on national television that aired on ESPN Mexico, Ricardo was hired by Chivas as the sports director for the Clausura 2020 tournament.