The trickle of Americans gaining attention on the playing fields of England and elsewhere in Europe this season is an encouraging sign for U.S. national team head coach Bob Bradley, and the team's rabid fans. But the tricolor of archrival Mexico is beginning to wave proudly across the pond as well. And that could spark a CONCACAF power shift back across the border.
The biggest surge in Mexico momentum comes in the form of Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez. As with his earlier signings of South Korea's Park Ji-Sung and U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, Sir Alex Ferguson was accused of signing Chicharito to boost the so-called Manchester United brand in a lucrative new marketplace. Once again the good knight has proved the critics wrong. He is the finest judge of young talent in the game, and his goal remains winning silverware, not increasing merchandise sales. Chicharito has been a sensation in his rookie season at Old Trafford.
With the emergence of Chicharito, Mexico head coach Jose Manuel de la Torre has that priceless soccer commodity at his disposal: a world-class goal scorer. Sure, the young Mexican starlet flubbed a couple of gilt-edged chances in Mexico's 2-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina this past month, but those were the exceptions to his usual slide-rule precision in front of goal. His two strikes against Wigan this past Saturday being prime examples of his clinical composure in the penalty box.
Then there's Giovani Dos Santos. An audacious talent, he hasn't converted his sporadic flashes of highlight-reel brilliance into being a consistent game-changer. Not yet, anyway. He flourished briefly during Javier Aguirre's recent tenure as Mexico manager, but he's had very little playing time at Spurs this season and was loaned out to Racing Santander in the January transfer window. He scored this past weekend against Villarreal, but one goal does not make a season for Gio anymore. But El Tri fans aren't looking to him to carry the load now. That burden will be on Chicharito, which could help Gio finally fulfill his prodigious potential.
That's a scary thought for U.S. fans. And so is the roster of young talent supporting Mexico's Big Two. Carlos Vela -- a teammate of Gio on Mexico's 2005 U-17 FIFA World Cup-winning squad -- is another talent that hasn't lived up to his early press clippings. Visa problems and injuries (along with serious competition for places) have limited his playing opportunities with Arsenal. He won't have those problems while on loan to my beloved Baggies. And if he keeps up his recent Albion habit of scoring late, late goals, he can expect another shot with the Gunners.
Pablo Barrera is another skillful young wide-man trying to make his mark in the EPL since signing with West Ham after the 2010 World Cup. Like many an American player before him, he's been used mainly off the bench on a struggling team. But he has a four-year contract, and if he blossoms at Upton Park, he could become a thorn in the side of Hammers teammate Jonathan Spector on the international stage.
Like Barrera, Efrain Juarez headed to British shores after the World Cup, but in his case he went to Scotland to join Celtic. He's also riding the learning-curve escalator that involves more substitute appearances than starts. But if Juarez learns to handle the physical nature of Scottish football, he'll join Maza Rodriguez, Hector Moreno and Carlos Salcido as solid El Tri defenders well-versed in the dark arts of European football.
This week marked the 10th anniversary of the game that for many is the beginning of the U.S.-Mexico soccer rivalry -- the 2-0 win by the U.S. in World Cup qualifying at Columbus Stadium on Feb. 28, 2001. Since that game, the U.S. has won the CONCACAF Gold Cup three times, with Mexico winning twice. The U.S. has dominated the rivalry on its home soil, while still failing to gain that elusive first win south of the border. And, of course, the U.S. won the neutral-site game, at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea.
It's the decade-long pendulum swaying mostly the U.S.'s way that Mexico desperately wants to redirect. And letting their next generation of stars suffer the hard knocks of Europe (as the U.S. has mostly done and continues to do) can only help El Tri in that quest. As Chicharito can no doubt confirm, Columbus, Ohio, is not the only place that gets cold in February. It gets pretty chilly in Manchester, as well. And that should only stoke the fires of a wonderfully heated rivalry.