ROUNDUP | Sunday's games

Mexico 3, Iran 1
NUREMBERG, Germany -- Mexico's raucous crowd left the stadium singing and chanting in red, green and white waves of unbridled joy. Oswaldo Sanchez, still mourning the death of a father who dreamed of watching him play in the World Cup, left the field with a smile. Iran, meanwhile, missed a chance to replace talk of political turmoil with discussion of its on-field success. Hours after the echoes of a protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime faded in this Bavarian city, Iran had hoped to salvage at least one point from its World Cup opener on Sunday. Mexico, whose goalkeeper had to fly home on Thursday to bury his father, had other ideas, scoring twice in the last 15 minutes. El Tri's players rushed to hug Sanchez, who rejoined them Saturday night. Brazilian-born midfielder Zinha, who scored Mexico's third goal, said the team dedicated the win to "our great friend Oswaldo, who is a great person." "What courage to go through such a difficult thing and then represent your country like it's supposed to be done," said Zinha, also known as Antonio Naelson. Felipe Sanchez died of a heart attack on Wednesday while preparing to come to Germany to watch his son play. "It was my dad's dream for me to be here, playing in the World Cup, and I am happy," Sanchez said through a translator. The 32-year-old keeper made two previous World Cup trips, in 1998 and 2002, but was a reserve. Sanchez, given flowers and condolences from the Iranian team before the match, turned in a solid outing just 24 hours after returning from Mexico -- so much so that Mexico coach Ricardo Lavolpe said the keeper appeared "to have an angel watching over him." Iran coach Branko Ivankovic was left to explain how his team fell apart late in the second half -- and whether politics had cast a shadow on the field. "Nobody is allowed to discuss politics," Ivankovic said at the postgame news conference. "We are allowed to discuss the opponent, to discuss football, and in this case, to discuss Mexico." There was plenty to discuss about that, too, namely, how Iran's late-game lapses turned the Mexican fans' bored whistles into cheers. Omar Bravo's second goal of the match, in the 76th minute, put Mexico up 2-1. Three minutes later, two second-half substitutions hooked up for the clincher when Zinha headed in Francisco Fonseca's cross. "In the first half, everyone was very nervous," Lavolpe said through a translator. "We weren't getting possession of the ball. In the second half, the team stabilized. We had more possession and that's why we won the game."
Netherlands 1, Serbia-Montenegro 0
LEIPZIG, Germany -- The Netherlands relied on the lightning speed of wing Arjen Robben for a win over Serbia-Montenegro to join favorite Argentina at the top of Group C, considered the toughest of the first round. In a clockwork move in the 18th minute, Mark van Bommel fed a long pass to Robin van Persie near midfield. The wing delicately lobbed it over the defense toward Robben. No one could match his quickness, and despite some desperate tugging at his shirt, Robben coolly slipped the ball under goalkeeper Dragoslav Jevric in the 18th minute. It was all the Dutch fans needed to start a party, and half the crowd at the 43,000-capacity Zentral Stadion was filled with orange, the color of the Dutch team's shirts. The celebrations lasted the rest of the game -- and certainly would go deep into the evening. The Netherlands won a 1-0 World Cup game for the first time.
Portugal 1, Angola 0
COLOGNE, Germany -- Portugal broke its slump in opening games at major tournaments, hanging on against World Cup newcomer Angola. The often-inventive Portuguese didn't look like a favorite in Group D, failing to impress against the inexperienced Angolans. By the end, they were hearing the jeers from a crowd frustrated by their sluggish play. Portugal was stunningly beaten in its openers at the 2002 World Cup by the United States and the 2004 European Championship to Greece despite boasting some of Europe's most talented players. One of them, Pauleta, scored his 47th goal for Portugal in the fourth minute, tapping into an empty net after captain Luis Figo sliced through the Angolan defense and drew out the goalkeeper. But that was it for the Portuguese.
Associated Press
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