Predicted Order of Finish: Portugal, Mexico, Iran, Angola

This is maybe the oddest of all the groups, with a few intriguing stories, major political overtones, and two clear cut winners who will almost certainly be dumped out of the tournament in the next round.

Both Portugal and Mexico are in different leagues when it comes to talent and experience in Group D. The Portugese were many times predicted to do great things and, like many others in this tournament, have failed to live up to their billing. Up front they have big names in Luis Figo, Christiano Ronaldo, and Deco playing just behind Pauleta and they should win this group with the full 9 points.

Because only a few of Mexico’s players are based abroad, they will have spent much more time together than any other team, playing 26 games in 2005. They are talented in spots and in the 2005 Confederations Cup, they beat Brazil and drew with Argentina and Germany. They are strong down the middle with Barcelona’s Rafael Marquez in central defense, captain Pavel Pardo in midfield and Bolton’s Jared Borgetti alongside Villareal’s Guillermo Franco as the two strikers.

Iran should be just happy to be here but are extremely confident of getting out of their group. A problem has arisen in their pre-tournament preparations because most countries have refused to play them in friendlies due to politics. Those who have not seen Iran much (okay for most of us, at all) should be on the lookout for Bayern Munich’s Ali Karimi who is the heir apparent to Michael Ballack now that he has moved on, and striker Ali Daei who has scored more goals internationally than anyone, ever!!

Angola actually are just happy to be here and got to the Finals not necessarily because of their outstanding play, but because Nigeria disappointed throughout qualification. The big story for them is their June 11 match against Portugal. From the 16th century on, Angola was under the thumb of the Portuguese and only gained independence in 1975. In their only previous meeting, the Angolans received so many red cards the match was cancelled. Tempers and memories will probably not be a factor this time.

Another curiosity of this group is that though Portugal and Mexico should easily advance, they should both be eliminated in the next round as they are to face the two teams to escape from Group C, most likely to be Holland and Argentina.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 4th, 2006 at 12:10 am and is filed under World Cup 2006. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.