Soccer: World Cup

11:16 PM CDT on Saturday, June 3, 2006

By STEVE DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News

FIFA rank: 7

Looks good: Ability to face down heavyweights.

Trouble spot: History of under-estimating small fries.

Overview: Brazilian boss Luiz Felipe Scolari (a.k.a. "Big Phil") led his native land to the 2002 title. In Portugal, he inherits a team that embarrassed itself in '02, then fell a game short as host at Euro 2004. If striker Pauleta can erase his tendency to shrink in big games, Big Phil may be onto something.

FIFA rank: 4

Looks good: Captain Rafael Marquez's leadership.

Trouble spot: No hot striker at the moment.

Overview: Can Mexico finally crash through that quarterfinal wall? Its previous visits to the quarters came in '70 and '86. Jared Borgetti, Guillermo Franco or Francisco Fonseca must awaken and produce some big goals. Manager Ricardo La Volpe, a controversy magnet in his country, took 37-year-old Claudio Suarez to provide leadership for a green defense.

FIFA rank: 23

Looks good: Experience in the German Bundesliga.

Trouble spot: Loose cannon president is a potential distraction.

Overview: After narrowly missing out on 2002 qualifying (lost in a two-game playoff to Ireland), Iran qualified with a game to go for 2006. After previous World Cup stops in '78 and '98, the Iranians bring their best version to Germany. So far, their only tournament win came at France '98 against the U.S. in that tense, security-heavy 2-1 triumph in Lyon.

FIFA rank: 57

Looks good: Captain, ambassador and scoring hero Akwa.

Trouble spot: Seems resigned to first-round fate.

Overview: Bono himself couldn't have penned a more improbable tale for the land emerging from 27 years of civil war. Just qualifying was epochal stuff. The goal now: respectability against Portugal and Mexico, then defeat or tie Iran. As Akwa said, the country can perhaps be known for something besides "oil, war and poverty."

• The core of Angola's team plays professionally in Portugal, which once held colonial rule over the African country.

• Pauleta's nine goals topped European qualifying.

• With 14 goals for Mexico in qualifying, Jared Borgetti led the entire world.

• Iran's Ali Daei has a national all-time best 107 goals in 143 matches.

Mexico vs. Portugal: Mexican forward Jared Borgetti, rusty from a frustrating season of inactivity in England, gets his chance to match goal-scoring chops against Portugal's more heralded attackers in Gelsenkirchen, an old mining town with a way-cool, modern stadium.

The first round should be a piece of strudel for Mexico and Portugal, assuming they handle their business. But the second-round is a potential ambush against the survivors of vicious Group C.