Mexico is looking to break South African hearts on Friday when the World Cup spectacular kicks-off with the much-awaited match between Bafana Bafana and the South American giants. Fresh from a victory over Italy, the Mexicans arrived in South Africa this past weekend.
Mexico is one of Latin America’s strongest teams, ranked 17th in the world. This is their 13th World Cup appearance. They have never advanced past the quarter-final stage – they reached the last eight in 1970 and again in 1986 – both on Mexican soil.Now they have introduced a new breed of players for the 2010 tournament such as striker Carlos Vela who plays for Arsenal, while Barcelona’s Rafael Marquez will be key to “El Tri’s” campaign.
“It is the first time Mexico has so many players playing outside of Mexico in Europe. So that is very good, so they expect that this will and should be Mexico’s best ever showing at the World Cup finals because of the depth they have with the international players,” says Mexico’s left wing, Andrés Guardado.Star defender Rafael Marquez and striker Guillermo Franco’s have been declared fit for the opener against Bafana Bafana. News that no doubt will boost team morale.
Santosamaru 