Up until quite recently, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore had a running joke.
"Today's the day," Bradley would tell his United States and Toronto FC teammate day after day after day. "Today's the day I'm gonna do it."
Then he never would.
[seealso url = "http://sale-online.click/2015/09/29/the-baffling-mystery-of-the-toronto-blue-jays-ripped-out-urinal-flood/#y7c.HO7Fi8qC"]
Finally, on Sept. 28, after much deliberation, Bradley did it: He made his Instagram account public.
That might seem like a lot of buildup for a relatively minor decision, but Bradley is nothing if not intense. On the pitch, he's the best player the U.S. men's national team (USMNT) has, capable of delivering brilliant passes and runs that wouldn't look out of place in any match anywhere in the world. Off the pitch, the midfielder is quiet and private in public, a smoldering if slightly taciturn leader at 28 years old.
You won't find him on Twitter and he rarely draws attention during games for anything other than his play. In a way, Bradley's private Instagram offered a perfect imaginary microcosm of the player himself: Observing, analyzing, quietly liking and posting photos of close friends without clamoring for the spotlight to shine on him.
[img src="" caption="" credit="" alt=""]
When Bradley finally did make his Instagram account public for real, he posted a fitting first photo as the U.S. readies to play Mexico on Saturday in its biggest match since being bounced by Belgium in round-of-16 at the 2014 World Cup.
Two weeks ahead of that showdown, Bradley shared a photo of an intense encounter between himself and Mexico star Javier "Chicarito" Hernández during a 2013 U.S.-Mexico match. The "10.10" graphic references the date of this Saturday's match, while the "dos a cero" references the Americans' recent history of beating their arch-rivals by that scoreline.
A photo posted by Michael Bradley (@michaelbr4dley) on Sep 28, 2015 at 7:01am PDT
"Games against Mexico are just special," Bradley says. "They're all different and they're all special. Whether you win or lose, score or don't score, there's just something about them."
But it's been some time since a match in the border rivalry was quite this special from the American perspective. Saturday's CONCACAF Cup date against Mexico is, simply put, the USMNT's most important match in well over a year. It's also one that could have major fallouts both tangible and intangible.
High stakes after a lifetime of fandom
If the U.S. beats Mexico, it books itself a trip to Russia for the 2017 Confederations Cup, a tournament of top teams that World Cup hosts put on each summer a year before the grandaddy of all soccer tournaments. If the U.S. loses, it misses out on that opportunity, one seen as an important building block for World Cup success.
But make no mistake: Saturday's U.S.-Mexico match is much, much bigger than just reaching the Confederations Cup in 2017. (The U.S. starts its World Cup qualifying campaign in November, for example, win or lose.)
The U.S. bumbled its way through this summer's Gold Cup. The USMNT entered as favorites to win North and Central America's international championship. Instead, they were upset by Jamaica in the semifinals before succumbing to Panama in the consolation game to wind up with a sour-tasting fourth-place finish.
That disaster follows what has been an up-and-down trajectory under charismatic manager Jurgen Klinsmann. He took over the U.S. team after Bob Bradley, Michael's father, was fired in 2011, and has delivered mixed results since. The Gold Cup debacle -- not to mention some suspect efforts in recent friendlies against South American sides -- has many questioning U.S. soccer's longterm course to joining the world's elite teams.
Lose to Mexico on Saturday, and for the first time Klinsmann will face a considerable chorus calling for his head.
None of this is lost on Bradley or his teammates.
"This game against Mexico has been looming large for everybody -- players, fans, people who follow the game closely in North America -- since the day we lost in the Gold Cup this summer," Bradley says. "For all intents and purposes, it's a final."
Bradley's history with Mexico goes back to well before he was a USMNT mainstay. He remembers watching on TV as a teenager in 2001 when the U.S. and Mexico faced off in a World Cup qualifier in Ohio. He remembers waking up at odd hours to watch the 2002 World Cup from South Korea and Japan, where the U.S. beat Mexico 2-0 to reach the quarterfinals.
After all that watching, Bradley finally got his chance to take the pitch for the first time in a high-stakes, senior-team match against Mexico in a 2009 World Cup qualifier.
"I remember how surreal it was to watch myself step onto the field in one of these games that I had grown up watching," he says. "I remember thinking to myself, 'Wow, a real U.S.-Mexico game, a qualifier with everything on the line.' I remember the buildup."
Bradley scored both goals in a 2-0 U.S. win that day.
'It's a huge responsibility'
The Mexico team Bradley and his teammates face Saturday presents a unique challenge. Popular coach Miguel Herrera was fired in July after an alleged airport attack on a Mexican journalist. That's left El Tri under a cloud of dysfunction since, despite fielding a talented roster.
Los Angeles Galaxy star Giovani dos Santos is out due to injury Saturday. But Chicharito, Andres Guardado, Rafael Marquez and others lead what is still a very dangerous squad.
"I think it's a very interesting Mexican team at the moment," Bradley says. "In some ways -- based on just pure quality and skill and attacking threat -- it's one of the best Mexican teams I can remember."
From Saturday's CONCACAF Cup all the way back to waking up early as a teenager to watch the 2002 World Cup, Bradley's journey through various installments of the U.S.-Mexico rivalry has coincided with soccer's rise in the American consciousness. Soccer was just a fringe sport far outside the American mainstream back when Bradley was a kid setting his alarm for kickoff. Now it beats the World Series for TV ratings.
But with increased attention comes increased scrutiny. Should the U.S. fall flat on Saturday, many USMNT fans will be thrown into an identity crisis. Klinsmann will face major questions. Bradley and his teammates won't hear the end of their failures.
Not that he'd have it any other way.
"The game is growing at an unbelievable rate in our country and it's incredible to be a part of it. It's everything -- week to week in MLS, the attention our national team gets when we play big games, the following our women's team has," Bradley says. "As players, we feel a strong sense of responsibility. We're the centerpiece of that growth in some ways. We want to play in a way that when people watch they're proud and they see a team they identify with. It's a huge responsibility but something I enjoy every second of."