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Group D review Mexico survive Angola scare There were no surprises in Group D as both Mexico and Portugal progressed to the second round, but they didn’t have it all their own way. Richard Godden rounds up the action



Before a ball had been kicked in Germany you would have got pretty long odds on Angola progressing to the second round. Although the African debutants fell just short of such a feat, they did give Mexico quite a scare in the final round of matches. With El Tri trailing to group winners Portugal, the Black Antelopes took the lead against Iran and knew that another goal would put them within touching distance of their more illustrious rivals. Alas, it wasn’t to be, but at least it provided some talking points at an unexpected time. The opening matches in this Group should have given the two favourites a kick up the backside, as Portugal could only muster a 1-0 win over their former colony and Mexico were pegged back against Iran before emerging with a 3-1 win. “It was a difficult game, but that’s what we expected,” said Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari. “Any victory is good, no matter how you get it. Angola got better in the second half, and at times they played better than we did.” As if to prove that it wasn’t a fluke, Angola then proceeded to put in a fine backs-to-the-wall display against Mexico. The defending was pretty unorthodox at times, particularly from goalkeeper Joao Ricardo, who went into the tournament without a club, but they held on for the greatest result in their history. “We had two objectives when we came here – to do our country and our continent proud, and I think we achieved that to perfection in this game,” said Coach Luis Goncalves. Iran almost replicated that result against the Selecção das Quinas, but Deco made a timely return from injury to fire in a deserved winner. The real fireworks were still to come though, as Portugal made an explosive start to their game against Mexico, which appeared to be nothing more than a decider for top spot. But with El Tri down to 10 men and lagging behind in the second half, Angola netted their first ever World Cup Finals goal. That led to astonishing scenes in both matches, with all four teams going all out for the win. Iran eventually drew level to take their first point of the tournament and there was to be no upset – just an almighty scare for Mexico. STAR MAN – LUIS FIGO (PORTUGAL) Many people wrote off Luis Figo when he arrived at Inter last summer, but the Portuguese ace went on to have a stunning campaign – and he has continued that form at the World Cup. Had a massive hand in the Selecção Dos Quinas’ first three goals and was a constant threat down the left flank. KEY MOMENT After watching Mexico slip to a 0-0 draw against Angola in their second match, Portugal knew that a win against Iran would virtually ensure that they’d top the group – thus avoiding a likely meeting with Argentina in the second round. A strong Iranian defensive display threatened to spoil their party until Deco fired in an unstoppable strike with just half an hour left.