Angola, one of the four African debutants for the World Cup, will try their best to defend the honors of the continent in the Group D match against Mexico here on Friday.

Angola, who gained confidence in their World Cup debut in which they lost only 1-0 to European giants Portugal, will play all out to get at least one point in their second match to avoid an early exit, although it is a very difficult task.

Africa's traditional heavyweights Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal and 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa failed to qualify for the 2006 finals in Germany, and four debutants Angola, Togo, the Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana all got off to losing starts in their first appearances.

The fifth African nation, Tunisia, who have previous World Cup experience, drew 2-2 in their opener with Saudi Arabia.

Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves said, "We have our difficulties and there is a gulf between us and the Latin American and European teams but it's down to our footballing authorities in Africa to work together to try to improve the situation."

"We must be happy and Africa is a continent that has other priorities which are more important than football - we have to think about health, education, development and debt. We are aware of our responsibilities.

"We are representing our country but not only Angola. We are representing a whole continent," he noted.

The line-up of Angola is likely to be unchanged for the Mexican match with Fabrice Akwa likely to start up front as a lone striker.

"Their (the Mexican) players have been preparing for this tournament for two months which shows how seriously they are taking it," said Goncalves, who was given the national team job largely on the basis of his work with the under-21 side which he took to the World Cup for that age group in Argentina in 2001.

Mexico, who crushed Iran 3-1 in their first match in group D, also eye the second win to seal a berth for the knockout stage. But their star striker Jared Borgetti suffered a hamstring strain in the Iran game and is expected to miss the remaining group matches.

"Jared is a loss to any team but we have plenty of faith in our other strikers," Mexico captain Rafael Marquez said.

"We scored three against Iran and Jared didn't score any of them, that's a signal of what the others are capable of. They are quality players and will do us proud." Marquez added.

Forward Guillermo Franco, who played behind Borgetti against Iran, might be moving further forward.

"It's a pity Borgetti cannot play," Franco said. "The coach has yet to decide who will replace him but of course, I am hoping to earn that place.

"I always see myself scoring but I am not obsessed about it."

Franco played the first half against Iran but failed to find the target and was replaced by Zinha at half-time. He is now ready to get on the score sheet against Angola.

Mexican coach Ricardo La Volpe is set to make a tactical change in the center midfield, with Luis Perez set to come in for Gerardo Torrado. Torrado failed to produce his best form against Iran.