BERLIN, June 12 -- The world soccer powerhouses Netherlands, Mexico and
Portugal struggled to beat their rivals on Sunday, the third day of the World
Cup Germany kicking off on Friday evening.
The Netherlands flew to a winning start by beating Serbia and Montenegro 1-0
in Leipzig. The young Dutch side, making a return after the 2002 absence, won
the game in a "Group of Death" which also featured Argentina and Cote d'Ivoire.
"I'm happy that we won the first match, which is very important for the
tournament," said Dutch coach Marco Van Basten after the match.
"We knew our opponents were very tough to beat and it was very difficult
today. I had thought we were able to beat them 1-0."
Forward Arjen Robben scored the sole goal for the Orange in the 18th minutes.
He made a splendid solo run to beat Serbian defenders and goalkeeper Dragoslav
Jevric after receiving Robin van Persie's pass around the middle circle.
The Chelsea winger, who frequently penetrated the Serbian defence in the left
wing, became the most active player on pitch.
In Nuremberg, Striker Omar Bravo scored twice as Mexico beat Iran 3-1 in
their World Cup Group D opener.
The 26-year-old put Mexico ahead in the 28th minute after slotting in a pass
from Guillermo Franco. He scored the second in the 76th minute to give the
Mexicans a 2-1 lead after the matched had been deadlocked at 1-1.
Iran gave Mexico some nervous moments soon after the kickoff. Striker Vahid
Hashemian could have given the Asian side the lead.
Iran, who recorded only one win in their two previous World Cup finals,
displayed an agressive performance after the interval, pressing the Mexicans
from the start and looked very strong from dead-balls.
Ricardo La Volope's side was shocked as striker Jared Borgetti was forced off
with a hamstring problem. The leading scorer in qualifying was replaced by
Francisco Fonseca.
Bravo rose to the occasion to help Mexico to retake the lead and Antonio
Zinha sealed the win with a bullet header from 10 meters out from Mario Mendez's
right-wing cross.
Iran captain said Ali Dae said that two mistakes in five minutes cost their
point from the games.
"Some individual players made mistakes in five minutes. We lost in just five
minutes. We are unlucky. But that's football, we must accept it," the
37-year-old said.
Mexico coach La Volpe said that his substititions have played a very
important role in the second half.
"The substitutions are perfect," he said. "We are nervous in the first half.
That's normal for the players in a big stage like the World Cup. But in the
second half we controled the position and we won."
In Cologne, Portugal beat Angola 1-0 to move level on points with Mexico at
the top of Group D.
Pedro Pauleta, who almost scored after just 12 seconds, gave Portugal the
lead in the fourth mintue with a neat shot after Luis Figo broke clear from the
middle and dished out an immaculate cross.
Making their World Cup debut, Angola must have feared the worst after that
Pauleta goal, particularly as they had lost 6-0 and 5-1 in their two previous
meetings with Portugal.
But to their immense credit Angola refused to be overawed and went on the
offensive.
While Portugal sought to protect their lead, Angola replaced Akwa with Pedro
Mantorras, but the Benfica forward was unable to change the course of the game.
