Aguirre, the former midfielder who played in the 1986 finals and inspired Mexico's recovery midway through a previously-dismal qualifying campaign, knows Ecuador will be determined to recover from their 2-0 opening loss to Italy.

Mexico beat Croatia 1-0 in their first game thanks to a penalty by Cuauhtemoc Blanco awarded after their opponents were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Boris Zivkovic.

"That win gave everyone a good feeling," Aguirre said. "But it did not earn us automatic qualification to the second round. But if we can win against Ecuador, then we can talk about the second round."

Aguirre, who is expected to make a couple of changes to the starting line-up, also urged his players to heed the lessons learned from the precision of some of the Croatian set-pieces.

"They caused us a lot of problems with their corners and free-kicks. With dead ball situations, they were dangerous. We must learn from that. It will be difficult for us against Ecuador, but we know as much about them as they know about us."

Ecuador's Colombian coach Hernan Dario Gomez will bring in Ivan Kaviedes for his injured captain Alex Aguinaga, who picked up a thigh strain during the first half in the defeat by Italy.

"He deserves his chance," said Gomez. "He is an important player for us. He scored the goal that ensured our qualification for the World Cup."

Gomez is expected to use him in a secondary striking role, withdrawn slightly behind Agustin Delgado, in a team reshaped to a 4-4-2 system to provide a more attacking edge without sacrificing an ability to retain possession in what promises to be a tight affair.

Aguinaga, 33, dearly wants to recover and play against players he knows well and said he still hoped to regain fitness in time to play some part in the game, but Ecuador's doctor Patricio Maldonado said this was unlikely.

Gomez said he was fully aware of the need to adjust Ecuador's tactics slightly to a more offensive style, but also wary of losing possession frequently against the equally dangerous counter-attacking Mexicans.

"We are working hard and we believe we should go into this game believing we are on equal terms to Mexico and we can beat them," said midfielder Alfonso Obregon.

Probable teams...

Mexico: Perez, Marquez, Vidrio, Carmona, Torrado, Morales, Luna, Rodriguez, Arellano, Borgetti, Blanco.

Ecuador: Cevallos, De la Cruz, Hurtado, Porozo, W. Ayovi, M. Ayovi, Obregon, Mendez, Chala, Kaviedes, Delgado.

Referee: Mourad Daami (Tunisia).

On TV: Live on Ch12, RAI Uno at 8.30 a.m.