World Cup Betting Predictions - Group D

One of the weakest-looking Groups in the World Cup Finals is Group D, in which Portugal are deservedly odds-on favourite and Luiz Felipe Scolari's charges are bound to fancy their chances. By far the biggest threat to 'Big Phil's' men is Mexico, boasting arguably one of their best squad's in recent times. Iran and Angola have tough tasks if they are to make an impact on the face of it, although it will be interesting to see how the latter side fares against the Portuguese. The reason being, Portugal was previously the colonial ruler of Angola, so one suspects that their manager will be alluding to history in order to fire his men up. However, when push comes to shove, Group D should be nothing more than a straight fight between Portugal and the Mexicans. Under-achievers at the last World Cup, Portugal will be desperate to atone for a near-miss when hosting the 2004 Euro Championships, in which they were beaten 1-0 by Greece in the final, patently one of the biggest upsets in a national tournament in recent times. Luis Figo, one of the best players to come out of Portugal in history, is his team's most capped player having played for his country 118 times since 1991, and is the squad's third-highest scorer with 31 goals. However, Figo, who was Fifa World Player of the Year in 2001, has cited that he's going into this tournament 'drained' having had a long, hard season with Inter Milan, spending 2,472 minutes on the pitch over 34 matches in his first season with the San Siro outfit. This will be disconcerting for the team, as they will need a bit of Figo magic in attack, especially as the likes of forwards Nuno Gomes and Pauleta are, it's fair to say, not the forces of old. Indeed, their lack of strength in depth, especially with regards to out-and-out strikers, is something which is likely to be a major stumbling block, as Boa Morte and Helder Postiga are not, with all due respect, world-class strikers. On the plus side, wingers Cristiano Ronaldo and Simao Sabrosa are adept goalscorers, while Deco is always a threat charging forward from midfield. The class of these players alone will be enough to see them through the group stage, but it's thereafter that gives cause for concern. Former Mexico international stars Hugo Sanchez and Jesus Arellano have criticised the current Mexico coach, Ricardo Lavolpe, for picking naturalised foreign-born players in his World Cup squad - Antonio Naelson and Guillermo Franco were given as examples - because, in their opinion, such selections have blocked the paths of Mexican-born players. Ultimately, though, Lavolpe is getting a good tune out of his players. Impressively, no team scored more goals in qualifying for the Finals - El Tricolor amassed a haul of 67 goals, almost twice the figure registered by the Czech Republic - albeit against relatively low-key opposition. The South Americans possess plenty of firepower within their striking ranks, with Jaime Lozano, Francisco Fonseca and Jared Borgetti, in particular, really standing out during their qualification campaign.The last-named, known to his legions of fans as El Zorro del Desierto (The Desert Fox), was the top scorer across the world in qualifying, hitting the back of the net fourteen times, outscoring the likes of Brazil's Ronaldo, Portugal's Pauleta and Togo's Emmanuel Adebayor.Furthermore, Mexican football is generally on an upward curve, a fact best illsutrated by the exploits of their under-17 side, winners of the Fifa World Championship for that age group in Peru last year. Given their ability to score goals in abundance, and that they are going into this tournament in great form, and with plenty of confidence, my advice is to back Mexico to win the group at 6/4 with Bluesq.Admittedly, if Portugal were to fire on all cylinders, they would win the group hands down. But they are perennial under-achievers who may just falter when faced with a hungry Mexican side.Verdict: 2pts Mexico @ 6/4 with BlueSquare