Coach: Ricardo Lavolpe
Tactics: Balance between South American flamboyance and European discipline.
Star Player: Jared Borgetti - experienced striker with an excellent international strike rate.
Verdict: Blossoming side who should be good enough to make the second round. Problem might be in scoring goals. Borgetti is reliable but should he struggle then there does not seem to be a plan B. Resolute and rugged in defence and in Barcelona's Rafael Marquez they have class in the centre of midfield.
Ten things you didn’t know about Mexico
1. It is illegal to throw fireworks by hand during Holy Week.
2. The legendary ‘worm’ found in some bottles of mescal/ Tequila is actually a butterfly grub. It was originally added by the manufacturers as a publicity stunt.
3. Chocolate, in the form of the cacao bean, was used as money in pre-conquest Mexico.
4. Many poor Mexicans try to cross the 3,000-km border with the US in search of a job, and more than a million are arrested every year.
5. Forget modern "traditions" like the Baseball World Series, soccer, tennis and golf! By far the oldest ball game in the Americas is the little known game of Ulama! Amazingly, this game is still played in some regions of Mexico, where it is believed to have originated of Mexico more than 3000 years ago!
6. Many Anglo sayings and beliefs are subtly different in Mexico: Cats only have 7 lives, Tuesday the 13th is considered unlucky and April fools day is December 28th.
7. Its population, now numbering 100 million, represents about one-third of all the 330 million or so Spanish speakers in the world. Spanish is the majority language in nineteen other countries, besides Mexico, and is the world's third most spoken language, after English and Chinese.
8. Mexico is home to more than 50 species of hummingbirds
9. Mexican children are given both their father's last name and their mother's maiden name. This tradition helps preserve the heritage of both parents. Fathers would often weave a God's eye when their children were born. At each birthday for five years the father would weave another God's eye.
10. The first genuine tequila was distilled in western Mexico in the late sixteenth century.
