The biggest sporting event in the world, the FIFA World Cup of football kicks off on Friday at 10:00 p.m. over the ABS-CBN SkyCable sports channel ?Balls? which is aired on Channel 34.
Host nation South Africa takes on the exciting Mexican national team which recently found a distinguished supporter in pound-for-pound king and ?Fighter of the Decade? Manny Pacquiao who was given a Mexican team jersey which he gladly wore during a press conference hosted by the Governor of Nayarit and well-known boxing promoter Fernando Beltran.
Soccer writer Luis Bueno reports that Mexico has reason to be optimistic. With the likes of Carlos Salcido and Rafael Marquez leading the way, Mexico has more European-based players now than ever before.
Coupled with a mix of domestic-based veterans (Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Gerardo Torrado) and youngsters (Efrain Juarez, Guillermo Ochoa), El Tri's elusive formula for World Cup success could finally appear in South Africa.
The Mexicans are anchoring their World Cup hopes on its young players like Giovani Dos Santos, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, Carlos Vela who has played some dazzling football for English Premier League squad Arsenal and Efrain Juarez.
The quartet who will see action for the first time in the World Cup and are expected to make a breakthrough on the world's biggest stage.
Bueno notes that Hernandez made noise when he was snatched up by English giant Manchester United recently. Add to that players such as Guillermo Ochoa, Andres Guardado and Pablo Barrera, and the core of Mexico's team is under the age of 24.
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