Photo: Courtesy of US Soccer

The Philadelphia Union have announced that Mike Sorber has joined the coaching staff as assistant coach.

The 42-years-old Sorber, who speaks Spanish fluently, fills the vacancy left by Brendan Burke’s departure from the club in January.

Sorber said in a statement, “I’m really pleased to be joining the Union and am looking forward to getting started with the club this year. I have always admired this organization and the passion that the fans in Philadelphia have for their teams and I’m grateful to play a part in this team’s success going forward.”

John Hackworth said, “Having worked with Mike before, I know that we not only share a common coaching philosophy, but a level of trust and confidence with each other. He is someone that knows this league very well as both a player and a coach and we’re excited about adding someone to our staff with his knowledge and experience.”

A native of St. Louis, Sorber played two seasons with Pumas UNAM after leaving St. Louis University before joining the Kansas City Wizards in 1996 for MLS’ first season. Sorber played for the Metro Stars, the Revolution, and the Fire before ending his playing career in 2001. Between 1992 and 1997, Sorber earned 67 caps with the US National Team, scoring two goals.

He began his coaching career at St. Louis University as an assistant coach in 2001. In 2007, Bob Bradley named him as an assistant coach for the US National Team, where he remained until 2011. He then joined the Montreal Impact as an assistant coach, serving in that capacity during the team’s inaugural MLS season in 2012. He was the team’s chief North American scout in 2013 before being let go by the club.

On Jan. 16, 2014, Sorber was named Soccer Development Manager by FieldTurf.

Word that Sorber would be joining the Union first appeared via a tweet from the Washington Post’s Steven Goff on Feb. 1 and was quickly followed by a report from Philly.com’s Jonathan Tannenwald.