It's been a long time in the making, but perhaps the upcoming pair of World Cup qualifiers against Costa Rica could finally be Marco Fabian's time to grab the spotlight for the national team. He'll have to overcome some lineup rigidity from Chepo de la Torre, but after a quiet Olympic tournament, the hour looks ripe for Fabian to shine.

Coming off a spectacular run-up to the Games, the ultratalented 23-year-old looked set to dominate in London, perhaps even securing a high-profile transfer in the bargain. But curiously, Fabian was one of the few Mexican gold-medal winners who failed to really stand out at the Olympics, and with Chivas slapping what figures to be a wildly expensive price tag on its star's services, he's ended up back in Guadalajara for the foreseeable future.

But with the club game pushed to the side as World Cup qualifiers roll back around, the question of where Fabian's talents fit into El Tri resurfaces.