Márquez the glue that holds Barça, Mexico together

	Since making his national-team debt in 1997, central defender Rafa Márquez has been an integral part of Mexico's lineup. AP
	MAILBAG Gabriele Marcotti will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Late last season, Samuel Eto'o was asked the secret of Barcelona's success.

"We work hard for each other, and we each have a role to play based on our characteristics," said the striker from Cameroon. "Ronaldinho is the star lead guitarist. I pound away on the drums."

Extend the metaphor further and striker Lionel Messi might be the gifted vocalist, while midfielder Deco lays down the bass lines for everyone to follow. And defender Rafa Márquez? He'd be the sound engineer, the unsung hero, the behind-the-scenes guy without whom there would be no music to speak of.

At Barça, Márquez is happy to leave the limelight to others, focusing on what he does best: providing defensive stability to a team that is continuously bombing forward. But stick him in a different band -- say, the resurgent Tri -- and his role changes dramatically. Not only is Márquez the team captain, but, with the pinpoint accuracy of his passing from deep on the Mexican side, he is also an invaluable attacking option.

"I think that at Barcelona the responsibility is more equally divided among everyone," he says. "With Mexico I have more responsibility because of my experience. I have to work harder to help my teammates and the team."

When Márquez leads at Barça, he does it by example. Indeed, perhaps there is no greater contrast in appearance and style than the one between Márquez and Carles Puyol, his defensive partner at Barcelona. Puyol is in the Fabio Cannavaro mold: compact, quick, frenetic; mop-top hair bouncing in the night air; every tackle seemingly last-ditch. Márquez is a more measured, elegant reader of the game who makes things look easy. He is the ice-cool breeze to Puyol's wildfire.

But don't be fooled by appearances: Inside Márquez the fire burns just as bright. "Inside I am a man of character," he says. "When you need to get tough, I can be tough."

Tough and even nasty, as he showed in the Tri's round of 16 match against the U.S. in the 2002 World Cup. With Mexico down by two goals and with only two minutes left on the clock, Márquez flattened Cobi Jones with a head-butt -- and was duly sent off.

"These things happen in sports when you can't accept a situation and you feel desperate," Márquez says. "I don't think it's unusual for a footballer to find himself in this situation. You are frustrated and you want to do more, but you simply can't."

Márquez knows that while such "Zidane moments" might be understandable (though not acceptable) for a 23-year-old player, now that he is a veteran and the skipper of the Tri, he can't ever let himself go like that again. It would mean letting down not just his teammates and his country but also Hugo Sánchez.

One of the first calls the new Tri boss made after being asked to replace Ricardo La Volpe in November was to Márquez. "He said he wanted me to continue to be a leader in the national team," the defender says, "and he wanted to know that he had my support."

Sánchez could have saved himself the cost of a long-distance call to Barcelona. Growing up, both as a fan in Zamora and as an apprentice footballer in Guadalajara, Márquez idolized the former Real Madrid striker. "Hugo was my hero," he says. "I knew that sooner or later he would get the Tri job. Now he has the chance he wanted so much, and, God willing, things will work out."