Portugal and Mexico will qualify for the second round at the FIFA World Cup finals to be kicked off on June 9 in Germany, while their Group D rivals Iran and the debutants Angola will end their showoff after the first stage.

Under the 2002 World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, Portugal had an easy qualification on the way to Germany, as they didn't lose even one of the 12 games in their group, scoring 35 goals with seven points higher than the second-placed Slovakia in the European Zone.

The Brazilian Scolari is aiming at become the first head coach to win the Rimet trophy with different teams.

"I have a shot at that. Let's see how things go and whether I deserve it," Scolari said.

Paris St Germain striker Pauleta, with 11 goals scored during qualifiers, empowers a forward front for the Portuguese squad, which also boasts about Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United, Simao Sabrosa of Benfica and the veteran Luis Figo.

The 34-year-old Figo, Former FIFA World Player of the Year, was redressed with national jersey after nearly a year of retirement to help Portugal.

The flying winger Ricardo Quaresma and the midfielder Deco are also indispensable for Portugal.

Meanwhile, Scolari warned his squad against complacency, citing Portugal's waterloo in Korea/Japan World Cup finals in 2002.

Portugal arrived at the 2002 World Cup on the back of an excellent campaign at the 2000 European championships and with a team containing what was widely regarded as the golden generation of the Portuguese football.

Nevertheless, Portugal was eliminated from the first round, despite being placed as favorite of the group.

"Now you're coming into this tournament having enjoyed another superb European championships and a very good qualifying campaign, " said Figo, "but smart people don't make the same mistake twice."

Labelled as favorite of Group D in World Cup finals, Mexico aslo had a comfortable story during the qualifying phase with 67 goals netted, the highest number among the six zones.

El Tri (The Tricolor), which has a record of 20 matches consecutively unbeaten, is committed to reaching a historic quarter-finals outside of the country this summer.

The Mexican squad was qualified for quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1970 and 1986, when the Aztecs were the host.

By the guidance of the tactician Ricardo Lavolpe, who took in charge four years ago, the Mexican team also had wins over Argentina and Brazil during the last two years.

Despite the legendary striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco was knocked out of the squad, Jared Borgetti of Bolton, Guillermo Franco of Villarreal and Francisco Fonseca of Cruz Azul have become the pillar on the forward line.

The 33-year-old Borgetti, known as El Zorro del Desierto (The Desert Fox) to his legions of fans, was the top scorer across the world during qualifiers with 14 goals.

The shake-up of the squad by Lavolpe forged young players like Francisco Fonseca, Guadalajara defenders Carlos Salcido and Gonzalo Pineda, and Monterrey midfielder Luis Perez, who will play a big part this summer.

But the team have struggled against European opposition under Lavolpe. They lost all six of their matches against European teams until the 1-0 win over Hungary last December.

Under the shadow of Portugal and Mexico, Iran and Angola will face great difficulty if they want to qualify for the second round of the finals.

The Persians, who were not able to take part in the 2002 World Cup finals, have their hope on five teammates who all have the experience of playing in Germany.

They are Ali Karimi of Bayern Munich, Fereydoon Zandi of Kaiserslautern, Mehdi mahdavikia of Hamburg SV, Vahid Hashemian of Hanover, and Ali Daei, who has served for Arminia Bielefeld, Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich.

The Iranians had never passed the first-round exam in their two previous World Cup appearances in Argentina in 1978 and in France in 1998.

Angola surprised Africa when the Palancas Negras (Black Antelopes) booked their seat at the finals by winning the mighty Nigeria last year.

Known as the professor of Angolan football, Luis Goncalves depends more on the teamwork because the squad is lack of enough distinguished players like captain Fabrice Akwa and striker Pedro Mantorras.

But the uncertainty over the former Benfica spearhead, who has struggled against the injury during recent years, has an adverse impact on the newcomers.

On June 11, the Angolan squad will begin their first tournament with Portugal in Cologne, a key match to them somehow.

Since 1975 when Angola declared independence, the western African country only had two games with Portugal, and lost both of them.

Source: Xinhua