Mexico

Mexico and Javier Aguirre are a match made in heaven.

Under former coach Sven Goran Eriksson the Mexican’s struggled for form during qualifying, which eventually led to his dismissal.

Only one man could lead the Mexican’s into the 2010 FIFA World Cup and that was Javier Aguirre, the man who had previously masterminded Mexico’s qualification to the 2002 World Cup.

Under Aguirre the exceptionally skilful but aging forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco was brought out of international retirement and with his experience alongside talented young stars like Giovani Dos Santos and Andres Guardado they went on an impressive run.

Mexico went on to seal second place in qualifying and a spot in South Africa where they will be hoping to show the world what they can do.

Star Man - Cuauhtémoc Blanco

Mexico's leading World Cup goal scorer is back again after originally retiring from international football.

Javier Aguirre brought back the striker, famed for his 'Blanco bounce' trick that he performed in the 1998 World Cup to help spearhead their World Cup Qualification campaign as it entered its closing stages.

In the games the 7 games he played in he scored 4 goals taking his career World Cup qualifying tally to 19 in 25 games as well as scoring 3 in 8 at the two World Cup finals he played in 1998 and 2002.

Coach - Javier Aguirre

Aguirre's return as Mexican coach saw a turn around of epic proportions. Under previous manager Sven Goran Eriksson, the Mexican's struggled for form and it looked like qualification for the World Cup was a distant dream.

Eriksson was sacked and Aguirre appointed, Aguirre lead them out of a tough group in 2002 and has the ability to get the most out of his players as he did at Osasuna and Atletico Madrid, he turned the Mexican's form around and even lead them to Gold Cup glory where they beat USA 5-0 in the final.

Aguirre will however have to keep his temperament in check as he was suspended for 5 games during the Gold Cup after tripping Panamanian player Ricardo Phillips as he went to retrieve the ball.

One to Watch - Giovani Dos Santos

The former Barcelona youngster and now Tottenham star has had a rough ride at club level lately but on the international stage the starlet's quality is undoubted.

While injuries and off the field issues have caused his Tottenham career to falter, for Mexico the story couldn't be more different with superb performances earning him the Most Valuable player award at the 2009 Gold Cup.

Dos Santos, now back from injury will be looking to impress at Galatasary where he is on loan from Tottenham for the rest of the season and then he will want to star for his country in South Africa.

Odds to win - 50/1

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