Mexico midfielder Pavel Pardo insisted "los tricolores" would still reach the last 16 of the World Cup despite being held 0-0 by Group D opponents Angola in Hanover.

Barring a 20-minute spell of Angolan dominance in the first half, it was the Mexicans who ran the game and they besieged the Angolan goal in the second half, especially after the Black Antelopes had been depleted by the sending-off of Andre for a deliberate handball, his second bookable offence.

That leaves Mexico with a tough final match with Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal but 29-year-old Pardo was unperturbed and felt Mexico were better against the Angolans than they had been in the 3-1 win over Iran in their opening Group D fixture.

"We played better than against Iran, but obviously we're not completely happy because we dominated the game and didn't score," said the Mexican playmaker.

"But it doesn't make qualification any harder because we have four points now.

"The game against Portugal is going to be more difficult but we're ready and we're capable of winning the game. Football is like life; you have good days and bad days, and it didn't go well for us."

Midfielder Zinha also believes the Mexicans are in control of their own destiny.

The midfielder, who scored as a substitute against Iran but disappointed against Angola as a starter, said: "We know we didn't play worse than they (Angola) did, but we didn't have the intelligence to break the deadlock.

"But it hasn't made things any more difficult, because it's still in our hands. The problem was they had a very defensive game plan, and we didn't have the composure to knock the ball around as well as we'd have liked."

Mexico coach Ricardo Lavolpe will be concerned by his side's poor finishing after they spurned several opportunities to win the match with Guillermo Franco, substitute Jesus Arellano and Omar Bravo missing gilt-edged chances - had Bravo added to his two goals against Iran he would have become the tournament's top scorer.

He must wait to see if he will have Jared Borgetti available for the Portugal game after the striker missed the Angola match because of a hamstring injury sustained against Iran.

Borgetti, with 14 goals, was top scorer in qualifying worldwide for the 2006 World Cup.