Reputations count for nothing as Mexico faces France in high-pressure World Cup match

Confident Mexico determined to upset France

POLOKWANE, South Africa — Mexico carries loads of confidence into its second World Cup match, against a French team in disarray.

Mexico scored a late equalizer in the tournament’s first game against South Africa, taking some of the gloss off the opening-day celebrations for the host nation. It was a far better performance than France managed in a 0-0 draw with Uruguay.

The French struggled early in the 2006 World Cup, but then surged to the final, where they lost to Italy. Mexican captain Gerardo Torrado sees no reason to fear France.

“They have their names, we have ours. But names don’t play, men do,” Torrado said Wednesday. “Nothing short of a win is good for us.”

Mexico’s lively strikers Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos could cause defenders William Gallas and Eric Abidal problems with their pace and trickery after combining for some promising moves in the 1-1 draw against South Africa.

“They have a lot of potential in attack, but so do we,” Abidal said. “If you want to go all the way, you will come up against a lot of top strikers, so you have to be prepared for that. Against South Africa we saw that they like to play on the counter-attack and launch attacks from deep.”

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre prefers a settled team and figures to stick with his three-pronged attack, which has veteran forward Guillermo Franco holding the central role, with Vela and Dos Santos out wide.

“It’s what has brought us here and we’re not going to change,” Aguirre said. “Yes, we do leave a lot of space at the back, but we’re going to continue this way.”

Defender Rafael Marquez, who scored the goal for Mexico against South Africa, hurt his right calf muscle in the second half. He’s positive he is now fully fit.

“I’m fine now … at 100 percent,” he said. “I’ve had trouble with the calf and against South Africa I even was thinking of being taken off, but I’ve been able to recover over the past few days.”

Marquez, a teammate of Thierry Henry and Abidal at Barcelona, is concerned because the French have a tendency to bounce back after indifferent starts at major tournaments.

“They are very strong in attack and defense, even though in attack they are not living up to the level that we’re accustomed to seeing,” Marquez said. “But they have big players that can make the difference at any moment.”

Vela, however, is expecting nothing less than victory.

“Man by man we are made to achieve greater things and we will come out against France to win,” he said.