It was a little disheartening to watch the Belgians wander bewildered through this group because whatever those directly associated with the Irish team might like to think, George Leekens's side deserved to come through the play-offs for France and yet, once there, they were all too obviously one of the very weakest teams.

Their opening draw with neighbours Holland actually made the group look more interesting than it was. Their failure to put away the Mexicans when they had a numerical advantage and their somewhat comical inability to beat the South Koreans, despite having taken the lead in the seventh minute, provided a more accurate picture of Belgium's capabilities.

The Dutch, on the other hand, began to show what they were made of in their second game when they hammered the Koreans. They looked pretty good through the bulk of their final group outing against the Mexicans when only a late goal by Luis Hernandez, five minutes into added time, deprived them of another victory.

Luis Hernandez, Mexico's scoring talisman.