Group D: Having passed on the inevitable grief that would have gone with managing England after this tournament, Big Phil Scolari looks to be enjoying life with Portugal, who will top Group D if they manage even a draw against Mexico in Gelsenkirchen this afternoon.
The Portuguese are already sure of their place in the last 16, the first time they have managed to get past the group stages since 1966, but however they fare in their third game of the competition they will not know the identity of their opponents in the first of the knockout rounds until after tonight's game between Argentina and Holland.
Though his side have not lost a competitive game since losing to Greece on home turf in the final of Euro 2004, Scolari's men will have their work cut out to beat either of those two and with the second-round game in mind Scolari confirmed yesterday that he will rest the five - Deco, Pauleta, Costinha, Ronaldo and Nuno Valente - who picked up bookings in the team's opening two games.
Mexico, meanwhile, will also start their second-round game as underdogs but right now they'd happily settle for that.
The country's leading scorer, Jared Borgetti, is ruled out by the thigh strain that sidelined him for the goalless draw with Angola. He was missed then and despite Ricardo Lavolpe's preference for a three-man front line, the absence of the Bolton striker this afternoon will be again be a blow.
There is better news for the coach, though, in the availability of defender Rafael Marquez and striker Zinha, who rounded off the scoring in the 3-1 win over Iran. Both are set to start this afternoon.
Probable line-ups
Portugal (4-2-3-1)
Ricardo; Miguel, Carvalho, Meira, Valente; Maniche, Petit; Figo, Hugo Viana, Simao; Nuno Gomez
Mexico (4-3-3)
Sanchez; Marquez, Osorio, Salcido, Mendez; Pardo, Torrado, Pineda; Bravo, Zinha, Franco
Referee: M Lubos (Slovakia)
Kick-off: 3pm
Venue: Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen
On TV: RTÉ 2 and UTV
