Giovanni dos Santos's maturation has helped make Mexico a dark-horse in South Africa.
Photo by Phillip MacCallum/ Getty Images
It was not so long ago that the Mexican Federation looked on the verge of collapse, wallowing amidst the chaos of a Sven-Göran Eriksson era, with its zeal for bringing in foreign talent while ignoring the pride El Tri supporters held in their country's talent.
Fast forward eight months, reinsert Javier Aguirre, and Mexico are fringe contenders to take home the trophy at South Africa 2010. After the teams that are being discussed as the tournament's main contenders - Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany - Mexico is playing just as well as any side in the world. When you think of some of the nation's you'll hear as contenders - England, France, Argentina, and Portugal, for example - Mexico is just as dangerous.
But first, Mexico will have to navigate Group A, an easier quartet than the FMF could have reasonably expected to draw.
South Africa - Mexico won the lottery. The first team drawn out of Pod 2, they get the hosts, and thanks to the placing draw, they will play the opening game of the tournament - facing the Bafana Bafana on June 11. Mexico is a vastly superior side, but you wonder how El Tri will adjust to winter in South Africa, as well as how somebody like Giovanni dos Santos will perform in his first World Cup match. This one should be a 3-0 win for Mexico, but all of the circumstances surrounding the match make it more compelling.
Uruguay - The last team to qualify for South Africa and maybe the most inconsistent, Uruguay's striking tandem of Diego Forlán and Luis Suárez will become preview-stars in the months leading up to the tournament. But there is a reason that this team, at one time cruising through the South American region, stumbled through the last months of qualifying and had a close playoff against Costa Rica. They are both highly talented and highly flawed. Mexico is only one of those things.
France - There are only four nations in the world that clearly have more talent than Les Blues, which makes the tragedy of their current state so poignant. They failed to win their group in Europe, struggled in their qualifying playoff, and were thought so little of by FIFA that the governing body adopted a new formula for the draw that would preclude France from being seeded. Many analysts thought France was the nation to avoid out of the fourth pod, but given the French players may look at avoiding the embarrassment of missing the finals as their main goal, Mexico is the group's best team.
Mexico has no excuse for not getting out of this group, but for Mexico, the second round is par-for-the-course. The nation has made it to the Round of 16 in four straight finals, and their South African path to the second round may be their easiest trip yet.
