By Brian Trusdell

HARRISON, New Jersey -- The Mexico-United States rivalry has become one of the fiercest in soccer. Now maybe the acrimony is transforming into grudging acceptance.

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Tuesday's presentation of El Tri midfielder Rafa Marquez as the latest acquisition of the New York Red Bulls represented the second high-profile Mexican to sign with a Major League Soccer club within a week - following Nery Castillo's joining the Chicago Fire.

Previous Mexican transfers to the United States were perceived more as a side trip or for money, starting with the old North American Soccer League and continuing through Jorge Campos at the launch of MLS in 1996, Carlos Hermosillo and Luis Hernandez. But Cuauhtemoc Blanco's success with the Fire in his two-plus seasons in Chicago have changed opinions.

"I think for many years the American market has been attractive to Mexican players," explained Enrique Borja, 64, a former Mexican national team hero, former executive with Necaxa and Tigres, the Mexican Football Federation president from 1998-2000 and now the executive director for strategic alliance for CONCACAF.

"Many players have come to play but they haven't necessarily achieved the desire impact. I think that the player who changed everything is Cuauhtemoc, due to the way he plays, due to the team he played on. Now with the arrival of Rafa, a player who's been in one of the top clubs in the world, it's a new opportunity for MLS to look toward the Mexican, or Latin, market. "

Marquez arrives in the United States after seven years at FC Barcelona, where he won four Spanish league titles and two European crowns.

"To make this decision I did not think in other Mexicans who have come here … the only thing I was thinking to come here to MLS is that it's a league that's growing and that is' a league that is competitive and that will continue to grow," he said.

"I believe that Mexico will continue to have the potential. The United States has grown a lot in the past few years. But I don't think that makes the difference in who is the best or worst. Each one is fighting for their own cause…I don't think that this makes MLS stronger than Mexican league. Each have their problems … I believe that the two can grow equally."

The traffic isn't all north of the border either. U.S. international and former Los Angeles forward Herculez Gomez's transfer to Puebla earlier this year and his subsequent success as the co-scoring champion in the Mexican Clausura season earned him another transfer to reigning CONCACAF Champions League champion Pachuca. He will be followed by fellow U.S. World Cup teammate Jonathan Bornstein, who will move from MLS' Chivas USA to Tigres in January. Francisco Torres' play with Pachuca earned him a place on Bob Bradley's U.S. World Cup roster as well.

"The most important thing is that matches between Mexican and American teams are being televised in Mexico and many other countries," Borja said. "This constant competition makes the public see that the league in the United States is growing and the competition is logically not just at the national team level.

"The tournaments, like the (CONCACAF) Champions League, that are televised feature competition between the top clubs from the countries. And the Mexican public, the presidents and officials of clubs are constantly seeing the development of American players."

All of this is gladly welcomed by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who has been trying to convince Latin immigrants to the United States, particularly Mexicans, to accept his league as comparable to what they've known.

"We don't need to convince the Mexican market that this is a great game, we need to convince the Mexican market that this is a great league," Garber said. "I think there are going to be players moving back and forth, more and more, over the next couple of years.

"If you speak to Marquez and (Thierry) Henry, and Beckham, they're getting more and more calls from about players interested to come here at this age group, 30-31, as opposed to 34-35. That in itself is one of the most important aspects of this. This is a guy in the prime of his career. We competed against Juventus to sign Rafa Marquez. That's important for us."

Campos and Hermosillo enjoyed moderate success in their time in MLS, but it was Hernandez, who many on both sides of the border saw his stint with the Los Angeles Galaxy (2000-2001) as a major disappointment and halted the flow of Mexicans northward.

Similarly, stalwarts of the U.S. national team in the '90s -- Tab Ramos, Marcelo Balboa, Mike Sorber and Cle Kooiman, also enjoyed moderate success in Mexico, but it was a brief era until the start of MLS.

"It's continuing to grow," Borja said. "Television is continuing to show matches of Americans clubs and the U.S. national team and Mexican league matches are also shown in the United States. This makes the public from both countries up to date. They see matches that are more or more competitive and there are increasingly more big-name players on both sides which make you want to watch.

"The closeness between Mexican and American soccer becomes attractive for American players and in the United States, the American dream, is starting to appear. Now a player like Marquez or Juan Pablo Angel comes not to end his career but to increase the value of the league and make it more competitive."