Hablamos con Verónica Rodríguez, Diego Arrioja y Pablo Mariño, los conductores del nuevo programa deportivo nocturno en vivo de Telemundo.
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00:00I'm Pablo Mariño, Argentinian journalist, presenter and football analyst, and one of the members of El Pelotazo.
00:07Hi, I'm Verónica Rodríguez, I'm a Mexican sports journalist. I've been living in the United States for three years, and I've been with Telemundo for three years.
00:16Hi, I'm Diego Arrioja, also a Mexican sports journalist. I've been in the United States for 12 years, and in Telemundo I've just started.
00:24And together we are El Pelotazo.
00:27When the final whistle blows, El Pelotazo just begins. Sports, controversy and your opinion in one place.
00:37El Pelotazo is a sports entertainment program at a key moment.
00:41We are on our way to the FIFA World Cup 2026, and what we want is to take that path with you, with you who are passionate about sport.
00:51We are going to do it every night, that is, from Monday to Sunday at midnight, and El Pelotazo is precisely that platform where you are going to entertain yourself with your friends,
01:00you are going to talk about what you are most passionate about, which are sports, and you are going to have a good time, because understanding that you come from a tired day,
01:07whether it's good or bad, that you've been working, when you get home, what you want is to relax and have fun.
01:13And I think El Pelotazo is the best way to do it, especially talking about what we like the most, which are sports.
01:18The program is live, 7 days a week, at midnight, always on Telemundo, so the appointment is there.
01:26I think the energy is very high, and that is the key to this program. It is a program with a lot of energy, with a lot of information, and you don't have to miss it.
01:40Let's see, it's the best way to end the day.
01:42A few holes, but a lot of fun.
01:44Without sleeping, but here we are.
01:46Every night.
01:48Or with hair.
01:50We get along very badly, we don't talk to each other, here you can tell a little bit.
01:53No, the truth is that we get along very well.
01:56Something important about the program is that, as you can see on the screen, is how we get along.
02:01Out of the air, and I think that's important.
02:03Also our personalities, I think in that sense, we are being as we are.
02:07We are not a different character on television than we are in person.
02:11The authenticity that we are bringing to the program is something different that today many times on TV does not exist.
02:17And I think that's something good, something fresh that we are bringing to sports entertainment.
02:22Yes, apart from that, I think a way to summarize how we got along was a photo session that we had to do here for the program.
02:31I had practically never spoken to Vero, Diego had not seen him for a while.
02:37And suddenly we got together 10 minutes before the photos started and we started laughing, telling things, telling secrets, telling what happened, what we do tomorrow.
02:45And well, that was reflected in the photos and obviously in the program, right?
02:49Yes.
02:50You even invited us to a barbecue that is still going on.
02:52Yes.
02:55Well, let's see, for me it is a goal that I had set many years ago.
02:59I wanted to work in the sports world and for different things, I did not know anything.
03:05And I think that in life you always have to be ambitious, you have to have goals.
03:10In particular, I am that and it was a goal I had prior to the next World Cup.
03:16I achieved it, but there begins the other goal, which is to meet this great opportunity and I am doing it day by day.
03:23Yes, it is difficult for me to find the words, to be able to describe, to have the voice and to have the image with my teammates of the sports bet of Telemundo Deportes in such an important year on the way to the World Cup.
03:37I don't know, I can't find the words, but it means a lot.
03:41It means being able to achieve many dreams and goals that you had perhaps for 17 years when I started doing this career and that I saw that very far away and today it is becoming a reality.
03:53Yes, and for me it is similar.
03:55For me, since I had the opportunity in a contest many years ago to be able to participate in a World Cup as a journalist in 2014, I promised myself to be able to cover each World Cup.
04:06Until now, I have not failed. I had the opportunity to be in 2022 with Pico Galado de Pablo.
04:12For me, this is the best opportunity I have had in this sense and for me it is the beginning of a great stage and hopefully it will last many years.
04:22In my case, it was with my family, specifically with my father.
04:26I think it is the family union because it was the pretext every Sunday to sit down to eat and then watch football.
04:34And every 15 days I would go to the stadium, my family would go to the Pumas to visit the stadium with my father and my grandfather.
04:40And then the family would get together to watch the rest of the games on Sunday.
04:44And it was the perfect pretext to be a family, so the family bond became my passion.
04:50I think I'm going to tell you something that not many people think the same.
04:55I think I was born with a passion for sports because neither my father nor my mother liked sports.
05:01They did not see, they did not practice any sport.
05:04In fact, I always joked with my father and told him, how can it be that you don't like me that much?
05:10My mother tells me and shows me that she has cards that I made when I was 5 or 6 years old and I always made a drawing of a football player.
05:18That is, all the gifts I made were a football player.
05:21So from there, well, I played football and then I studied journalism, so it runs through my veins.
05:28For me it is also a family aspect.
05:31The funny thing is that my father is a Chiva de Corazón.
05:34He is one of those who throws his shoe at the TV and turns it off.
05:38And you are not a Chiva.
05:39And of course, when I was in Mexico City, we had some neighbors who invited us to the Aztec stadium every 15 days.
05:47So you like this color.
05:49And precisely, I started with my brother to go to see many games since I was 5 years old.
05:55And from there I became a fan of that team.
05:57You became the disappointment of your father.
05:59And the disappointment of my father.
06:00And to this day we continue to bet.
06:02I say, today I no longer bet because I feel sorry.
06:04Because in the Clásicos I have always had good results.
06:09But from there my passion arises and I have always been 100% a footballer.
06:13I have played football all my life.
06:14I still play football until my knee breaks, as they say.
06:17Here we continue.
06:18Two years ago I had the opportunity to be in the World Cup covering with Pico, next to Pablo.
06:24And that was when I really met the Telemundo team for the first time.
06:28And for the first time I worked for Telemundo.
06:30In fact, I also met Bergo off camera.
06:32And it was really, I came to do the project and then the project ended after the World Cup.
06:39And I always had that feeling of wanting more.
06:41And just now, with this project of the ball and facing the World Cup, the opportunity opened up.
06:47And obviously for me, without thinking about it, I am here.
06:50In fact, I moved from Seattle, on the other side of the United States, to take this opportunity.
06:55And that, for me, means a lot.
06:58Because I know how important it is to be able to be here in the ball.
07:02For me, I did my entire career in Mexico, in different parts of Mexico.
07:07In the last one I was approximately 11 years.
07:10And then I moved to the United States, but I moved for a family matter.
07:14So I was aware of how I was going to be able to continue working in what I like the most.
07:20I did my entire career in another country.
07:22And as soon as I arrived in the United States, it was a miracle.
07:26I had the call from Telemundo Deportes.
07:28But I still hadn't received the documents for me to be able to work.
07:33I was still with the visa that was being processed and it was a pandemic.
07:37So everything was delayed.
07:39So I prayed every day, saying,
07:41Oh, my social media, my social media, my social media.
07:43And the day it arrived.
07:45I mean, I'm really telling you this.
07:48The day it arrived was exactly the day I received the phone call from Telemundo.
07:51So I was able to come.
07:53And I was a guest at first in Zona Mixta, which is the sports program that Telemundo Deportes had.
08:00And then, as time went by, I stayed full time.
08:04And now, the ball.
08:07Let's see, I've been in this country for 25 years.
08:10I arrived as a sports journalist because I studied in Argentina.
08:12I worked for many years at Univision Deportes.
08:16Then I worked for almost a decade at BN Sports.
08:18Which is a channel that covered all international football, qualifying, etc.
08:24I've been covering the MLS for the last two years.
08:28Traveling all over the United States and Canada.
08:30I had already been here in Telemundo during the World Cup in Peacock.
08:34Together with Diego and other teammates, with a great team.
08:37And obviously, they saw something good in me.
08:41They called me to join this project.
08:44And as soon as they called me, I think I said yes within 20 seconds.
08:48They hadn't told me what the project was about, but I had already said yes.
08:51Because I have a great relationship with the person who called me.
08:54We trust each other.
08:56And well, I wasn't wrong. I'm very, very happy.
08:59The most fun thing is the dynamic with my teammates.
09:03Because there is always controversy.
09:05There is a clash.
09:06There are issues where we agree.
09:08There are jokes.
09:09So, we reiterate.
09:12When you talk to your friends in the room, with the sporting passion.
09:15It's the same in football.
09:17So, it's like every night you see your friends and you're going to talk about what you like the most.
09:21It ends up being very fun and very exciting.
09:24I think it's spectacular.
09:28I love the show.
09:29And a clear example that we all like the show.
09:32Is that the production meetings last three times longer than the show.
09:36And we still don't go out.
09:38It gives you a feeling that we want to be there.
09:42We have a good time.
09:43We get along well.
09:44It is reflected in the camera.
09:45And best of all, it's just starting.
09:47So, we still have a long way to go.
09:48And well, I hope you join us.
09:50And for me, apart from everything that Pablo and Vero said.
09:53And it coincides in terms of having fun.
09:55And the most important thing is to have a good time on camera.
09:57For me, it's the team that's behind the cameras.
10:01And the World Cup.
10:02Exactly.
10:03I want to add one thing.
10:05Sorry to interrupt you.
10:06While the teams are fighting and playing to qualify for the World Cup.
10:11By the way, Brazil and Colombia have to fight for the direct ticket.
10:16We're going to have it live.
10:18We are already playing in the World Cup.
10:20And that's good.
10:21I had to say it.
10:23Yes, so they can tune in.
10:25The game is at 8.30pm.
10:27But we are already playing in the World Cup.
10:29Yes, of course.
10:30It's been a while.
10:31Since it started.
10:32No, to add, it's the team that's behind the cameras.
10:35And I think, adding to what Pablo said.
10:37When there are production meetings.
10:39Also, every opinion counts.
10:41And they listen to us.
10:43For example, if we want to talk about something in particular.
10:45And that for me is very important.
10:47It means that they are valuing our point of view.
10:50And we also contribute to the program.
10:52Not only to be in front of the camera.
10:54But also if there are topics that we want to talk about.
10:56And I think in that sense a very good dynamic has been formed.