There has been a lot of apparently shrewd nose-tapping about Mexico. They tick plenty of the requisite dark horse boxes.

Hard to break down. Physically dominating. A coach who knows his own mind having left the man generally considered to be their best player, Cauahtemoc Blanco, out of the squad ostensibly because he didn't fit the system but really because he was a bit of a preener. Throw in a draw that virtually guarantees them a second-round spot and you've got a live one on your hands.

Or so the theory goes.

Somehow, though, it's difficult to be convinced by a country whose principal aim in the tournament is to stay as far away from the United States as possible. The US are easily their bitterest rivals and in recent years the Mexicans haven't been able to find a way to beat them.

Also, this will be their 13th World Cup and France eight years ago was the first time they managed to get to the second round in a tournament not played on their own continent.

They should have enough about them to beat Iran, a side with a couple of decent Germany-based players in Mehdi Mahdavikia and Ali Karimi but not much more besides. For grapple fans, the likely collision of centre-half Rahman Rezaei and Bolton's Jared Borgetti will shorten the evening.

Mexico have a bit of convincing to do before they can lay claim to interesting-outsider status. Here's the place to start.

Verdict Mexico

PORTUGAL v ANGOLA Cologne, 8.00 Live, RTE Two, UTV, 7.45

It's Sunday, it's the World Cup so why not kick back for a drinking game? Every time you hear the phrase "former colonial masters" this evening . . . or any variation thereof . . . treat yourself to a glass of port. It might not be all that fair on the Angolans for you to treat their tragic past as a reason to support the economy of the iron fist that ruled over them but hey, you'll be drunk . . .

you won't care. Given that the last game between these teams five years ago had to be abandoned after four Angolans were sent off, perhaps a small tipple is in order anyway.

Despite both managers' insistence that all is well between the countries now . . .they even went so far as to say that had they not been drawn in the same group, they'd have played each other in at least one friendly in the build-up . . . we'll need a mouthful of that pudding before we sign off on it as proof.

Angola have lost all three of their warm-up games against Turkey, Argentina and the US, ruinous defending sinking them on each occasion. So Portugal will win here, of course, providing they survive what should be a hectic opening.

This is just the kind of game that flat-track bully Pauleta uses to pad out his incomprehensibly prolific scoring record so expect at least two from him. Besides that, it will be interesting to see how Cristiano Ronaldo deals with the, ahem, zealous tackling that's bound to come his way.

Verdict Portugal