Five pressing questions as the U.S. preps for Mexico

	The last time the U.S. and Mexico met -- in September '05 in Columbus, Landon Donovan and company administered a 2-0 beatdown. Damian Strohmeyer/SI
	RELATED • MARCOTTI: Marquez is Mexico's unsung hero
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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- When I told people I was traveling to cover one of the best rivalries in sports on Wednesday, they made some assumptions. Duke-Carolina assumptions, if you catch my drift.

But when the ball is tipped in Cameron Indoor tonight, I'll be fired up for a different grudge match in a sold-out NFL stadium that might have an even better atmosphere.

Say hello to the 52nd edition of the U.S.-Mexico soccer rivalry (ESPN2 and Univision, 9 p.m. ET), which has only grown more heated in recent years as the Yanks have established unquestioned supremacy on American soil.

The U.S. is 6-0-1 in seven home games against Mexico this decade, outscoring El Tri 11-0. But when the two nearly full-strength teams take the field tonight, it will be the Mexicans, not the U.S., that have the nearly full support of the 60,000-plus crowd.

Here are five questions to ponder heading into North American soccer's version of Yankees-Red Sox:

1. How important is this game for U.S. interim manager Bob Bradley?

It's huge if Bradley wants to remove the interim tag. If the U.S. plays poorly it will be awfully hard for Bradley to stick. But if the Yanks can get a win I think Bradley will put himself in great position to win the job permanently. Perhaps the most interested party tonight will be U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati, who says he's sticking with the timetable he laid out in December for naming a full-time coach.

"Nothing's changed," Gulati says. "We said we'd take our time, wait until the European season's over and give Bob a chance to establish himself, and that's what we're doing."

I still have a hard time thinking that a big-name European coach (whether it's Carlos Queiroz, Gérard Houllier or any other potential candidate) would want to jump straight into the U.S. job so soon after a grueling club season. This job is Bradley's for the taking, but he needs a good performance tonight in the most important U.S. match of the first half of 2007.

The players are certainly in Bradley's corner. "We're just trying to play hard for him," says goalkeeper Tim Howard, who had Bradley for his coach with the MetroStars. "Bob has a good rapport with a lot of the players, and he's coached a lot of the guys on this team. We definitely want to win for him and push him to the forefront."

Bradley deserved better than being put into a situation where he needs instant results to win the job. But his circumstances add even more spice to a friendly that already has more intriguing storylines than your typical exhibition game.

2. Which team is closer to full strength?

The U.S. has four European-based players here -- Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Bobby Convey and Howard -- but missing are DaMarcus Beasley, Oguchi Onyewu, Steve Cherundolo and Kasey Keller. Meanwhile, newly-installed Mexico coach Hugo Sánchez brought in almost all of his heavy-hitters from the Continent, including Rafael Márquez, Ricardo Osorio, Carlos Salcido, Pavel Pardo and Nery Castillo. Advantage: El Tri.

Just looking at the rosters, I'm struck by how few Mexican players retired from international play after the World Cup. The U.S. is starting over without Brian McBride and Keller, but Mexico still has 34-year-old Cuauhtémoc Blanco and two 33-year-olds in Oswaldo Sánchez and Jared Borgetti. In the long term, this game may be more beneficial for the young Americans who gain from the experience, but for tonight Mexico's seniority could be a big advantage.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl keeps you up to date with the world of U.S. soccer at SI.com.