* = Seeded Team
[Team Jersey Images © Soccerphile
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Mexico may be the weakest of the top seeds but they have appeared at the competition an impressive twelve times and are wily opponents. However, outside Central America, the team has often failed to impress having never made it to the quarter-finals of the world's biggest sporting event but coach Ricardo Lavolpe is hoping that it will be thirteenth time lucky in Germany.
As usual qualification was no problem. Ten goals from Jose Fonseca helped and Bolton's Jared Borghetti wasn't shy in front of goal. 'The Desert Fox' scored fourteen times on the road to Germany, more than any other player in the world and during Mexico's impressive Confederations Cup showing, demonstrated that he will pose a threat to any defence next summer.
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Mexico Kit 1 |
Mexico Kit 2 |
Mexico v Iran 11 June; KO 18:00; Nuremberg
Mexico v Angola 16 June; KO 21:00; Hanover
Mexico v Portugal 21 June; KO 16:00; Gelsenkirchen
Ricardo Lavolpe
1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1978 First Round; 1994, 1998, 2002 Second Round; 1970, 1986 Quarter Finals. 13th trip to the World Cup.
Rafael Marquez, Oswaldo Sanchez, Carlos Salcido and Francisco Fonseca
Should make it out of the group with Portugal.
World Cup Betting
Mexico finished second, behind arch-rival America, in the Concacaf group to qualify.
Mexico is very, very difficult to defeat. They downed eventual
Confederations Cup winner Brazil 1-0 in June.
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Goalkeepers Oswaldo Sanchez (Guadalajara), Guillermo Ochoa
(America), Jesus Corona (Tecos).
Defenders Jose Antonio Castro (America), Rafael Marquez (Barcelona,
Spain), Mario Mendez (Monterrey), Ricardo Osorio (Cruz Azul), Francisco
Rodriguez (Guadalajara), Carlos Salcido (Guadalajara), Claudio Suarez
(Chivas USA, USA), Andres Guardado (Atlas), Gonzalo Pineda (Guadalajara)
Midfielders Luis Perez (Monterrey), Pavel Pardo (America),
Antonio Naelson (Toluca), Rafael Garcia (Atlas), Gerardo Torrado
(Cruz Azul), Ramon Morales (Guadalajara)
Forward: Jared Borgetti (Bolton Wanderers, England), Guillermo
Franco (Villarreal, Spain), Francisco Fonseca (Cruz Azul), Omar
Bravo (Guadalajara), Jesus Arellano (Monterrey)
Iran qualified for their third World Cup in comfort, hardly surprising when one looks at the attacking talent at their disposal. Bayern Munich's Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia of Hamburg SV and Hannover's Vahid Hashemian would find a place in any Asian line-up and are ably supported by the highly-rated Javad Nekounam in midfield.
The challenge for the team's coach Branko Ivankovic is to meld such players together into an effective attacking force as well as strengthening a suspect defence. Poor friendly results since qualification, however, have caused doubts to grow in Tehran as to whether the well-mannered Croatian is up to the job.
However, in the fickle world of football, Persia is more fickle than most and if the 46-year-old can improve on past showings in the competition in 1974 and 1998 and steer 'Team Melli' into the knockout stage then all will be forgotten and forgiven.
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Iran Kit 1 |
Iran Kit 2 |
Iran v Mexico 11 June; KO 18:00; Nuremburg
Iran v Portugal 17 June; KO 15:00; Frankfurt
Iran v Angola 21 June; KO 16:00; Leipzig
Branko Ivankovic
1978, 1998 First Round
Ali Karimi (2005 Asian Player of the Year), Vahid Hashemian, the veteran Ali Daie
Expectations are high at home that Iran will do well and progess
beyond the first round, we see them getting squeezed out by Mexico
and Portugal.
World Cup Betting
Iran cruised through their Asian qualifying group just pipped by Japan, who they defeated in Tehran.
Iran have yet to progress beyond the group stage and their best
performance to date is their 2-1 defeat of USA in 1998.
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Goalkeepers Ebrahim Mirzapour (Foolad, Iran), Vahid Taleblou
(Esteghlal, Iran), Hassan Roodbarian (Pas, Iran)
Defenders Rahman Rezaei (FC Messina, Italy), Yahya Golmohammadi
(Saba, Iran), Hossein Kabi (Foolad, Iran), Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh
(Saba, Iran), Mohammad Nosrati (Pas, Iran), Amir Hossein Sadeghi
(Esteghlal, Iran), Sattar Zare (Bargh, Iran)
Midfielders Ali Karimi (FC Bayern Munich, Germany), Mehdi
Mahdavikia (Hamburger SV, Germany), Fereydoon Zandi (FC Kaiserslautern,
Germany), Javad Nekounam (Sharjah FC, UAE), Javad Kazemian (Perspolis,
Iran), Andrianik Teymourian (Abumuslim, Iran), Masoud Shojaei (Saipa,
Iran), Mehrzad Madanchi (Perspolis, Iran)
Forwards Vahid Hashemian (Hannover 96, Germany), Arash Borhani
(Pas, Iran), Ali Daei (Saba, Iran), Reza Enayati (Esteghlal, Iran),
Rasoul Khatibi (Sepahan, Iran)
At their sixth attempt, Angola have finally succeeded in qualifying for a World Cup. Having first lined up to compete for a place at football's global gathering on a July night in 1984 - in the preliminary competition for Mexico 86 - the Angolan national team's longing has finally been satisfied after 21 years.
Drawn in Group 4 of the African Zone, Angola narrowly succeeded in snatching the sole ticket from beneath the noses of the all-powerful Nigerians. Angolan captain Akwa, formerly of Benfica and now plying his trade in Qatar, may have struck just three goals during the entire qualifying campaign, but all of them proved crucial and his influence has been undeniable. A scorer in the preliminary round against Chad, he struck the all-important winner over Nigeria in Luanda. It was this strike that, in the final analysis, secured top spot in the group for Angola.
However, Akwa's place in the annals of Angolan football history is primarily assured by the imperious header he buried in the back of the Rwandan net in Kigali. The Angola team he spearheads may be a touch short on stars, but every last one of them played an important part in qualification. Key contributors like the excellent Benfica forward Mantorras, Figueirido, Joao Pereira, the twinkle-toed Maurito and Ze Kalanga can all be justifiably proud.
Furthermore, their achievements are a testament to the know-how of coach Goncalves, the 'miracle man' of Angolan football. He secured qualification for Germany 2006 with a squad that includes a significant number of players he led to the African Under-20 title and the second round of the FIFA World Youth Championship in 2001. Now, hardcore Angolan fans are calling for their saviour to be offered a lifetime contract.
Their hero on the pitch, Akwa, as well as having a nose for decisive goals, also displays quite a way with words in splendidly summing up the great Angolan adventure: "We have proved that Angola is not just about oil, war and poverty."
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Angola Kit 1 |
Angola Kit 2 |
Angola v Portugal 11 June; KO 18:00; Cologne
Angola v Mexico 16 June; KO 21:00; Hanover
Angola v Iran 21 June; KO 16:00; Leipzig
Luis Oliveira Gonclaves
First Appearance at the World Cup.
Akwa, Ze Kalanga, Joao Pereira
Angola may be lucky to win a match, but look for an emotional game
against former colonial power Portugal.
World Cup Betting
Angola progressed ahead of Nigeria and Algeria in African qualification group 4
Nicknamed the "Black Antelopes".
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Goalkeepers João Ricardo (unattached), Lama (Petro
Atletico), Mário (InterClube)
Defenders Delgado (Petro Atletico), Jamba (AS Aviacao), Kali
(FC Barreirense, Portugal), Lebo Lebo (Petro Atletico), Loco (Primeiro
Agosto), Marco Abreu (Portimonense, Portugal), Marco Airosa (FC
Barreirense, Portugal), Rui Marques (Hull City, England)
Midfielders André (Kuwait SC, Kuwait), Edson (Pacos
Ferreira, Portugal), Figueiredo, Mendonca (Varzim, Portugal), Miloy
(InterClube), Zé Kalanga (Petro Atletico)
Forwards Akwá (unattached), Andre Titi Buengo (Clermont
Foot, France), Flávio (Al Ahli, Egypt), Love (AS Aviacao),
Mantorras (Benfica, Portugal), Mateus (Gil Vicente, Portugal)
So many of the ingredients are in place for the talented Portuguese that you wonder whether 2006 might be a golden chance to improve on their best finish of third place some forty years before. Led by 2002 World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, Portugal can lay claim to two of world football's most skilled individuals in Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo as well as the returning, albeit waning Luis Figo.
Furthermore, they have a consistently underrated striker to lead the line in Pauleta, the PSG forward who topped UEFA scoring charts in qualifying and who boasts an international strike rate of 35 goals in 66 games. By contrast English hotshot Michael Owen has 35 in 75 matches.
Can the Euro 2004 losing finalists go one better next year? Definitely. Portugal have the capacity to grind down teams with sustained periods of controlled possession and offer an attacking threat right across that powerful midfield. Having players of the calibre of Benfica captain Simao and Lyon's Tiago on the periphery of the first team also tells a story but they must avoid overly relying on Pauleta - notorious for failing to deliver in major tournaments - for goals.
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Portugal Kit 1 |
Portugal Kit 2 |
Portugal v Angola 11 June; KO 21:00; Cologne
Portugal v Iran 17 June; KO 15:00; Frankfurt
Portugal v Mexico 21 June; KO 16:00; Gelsenkirchen
Luiz Felipe Scolari
1986, 2002 First Round; 1966 Third place
Luis Figo, Deco
Portugal and Mexico to progress from the group.
World Cup Betting
Portugal won European Group 3, seven points ahead of Slovakia.
Amazingly this is only the fourth time Portugal have qualified
for a World Cup.
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Portugal In-Depth Team Profile
Goalkeepers Ricardo Pereira (Sporting), Quim Silva (Benfica),
Bruno Vale (Estrela Amadora)
Defenders Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea, England), Miguel Monteiro
(Valencia, Spain), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea, England), Fernando
Meira (VfB Stuttgart, Germany), Marco Caneira (Sporting), Ricardo
Costa (Porto), Nuno Valente (Everton, England)
Midfielders Armando Petit (Benfica), Costinha (Dynamo Moscow,
Russia), Tiago Mendes (Olympique Lyon, France), Nuno Maniche (Chelsea,
England), Hugo Viana (Valencia, Spain), Luis Figo (Inter Milan,
Italy), Deco (Barcelona, Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United,
England), Simao Sabrosa (Benfica)
Forwards Luis Boa Morte (Fulham, England), Pauleta (Paris
Saint-Germain, France) Nuno Gomes (Benfica), Helder Postiga (Saint
Etienne, France)
For highlights of the qualifying rounds, read Soccerphile's Ozren Podnar's "Best
of the World Cup Qualifiers."
Group D World Cup 2010