First came the "Blanco Bounce." Entertaining, but ultimately only a sideshow. Four years later, there was the humiliation of being bounced from the World Cup by a country that doesn't even care ¡ª well, much ¡ª about soccer.

This time around, the bounce should be in Mexico's collective step.

The team nicknamed "El Tri" is ranked ¡ª perhaps a bit generously ¡ª fourth in the world going into its Group D opener June 11 against Iran in Nuremberg, Germany. And with a No. 8 seeding and a favorable draw in one of the 32-team tournament's weakest group, the Mexicans are clearly expected to hang around for a while after pool play.

Reaching the quarterfinals, something they did twice as the tournament's hosts in 1970 and 1986, is a possibility. But the team has a bigger target in mind: its first semifinal berth.

"We are trying to reach new goals," coach Ricardo Lavolpe said. "We have been working hard and the objective is to rank among the top four in the World Cup."

Mexico seems to be building momentum going into its 13th tournament appearance, although upcoming exhibition matches against top European teams ¡ª in Europe ¡ª will provide more serious tests.

Mexico plays France, the 1998 World Cup champion, on Saturday in Saint-Denis, then closes out its tuneup schedule against the third-ranked Netherlands on Tuesday in Amsterdam.

El Tri, which finished second behind the United States in CONCACAF qualifying, goes into those games having won four straight and six of its last seven. Two of those victories ¡ª 1-0 over Ghana and 2-1 over Paraguay, both in March ¡ª came against World Cup qualifiers.

And even without talented but abrasive forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco, left off the roster by Lavolpe, Mexico still has two proven scorers in Bolton's Jared Borgetti and Villarreal's Guillermo Franco, a native of Argentina who was naturalized by Mexico last year.

Borgetti, Mexico's top career scorer, led the world with 14 goals in Cup qualifying and became the first Mexican to play in the English Premier League when he signed with Bolton in November. He has played sparingly since his arrival in England, but is always a threat in the opponent's area.

Franco helped his Spanish team reach the Champions League semifinals after transferring in January from Monterrey, where he scored 61 goals in five seasons.

Lavolpe produced a bit of a stir in April when he snubbed Blanco, who became famous in the 1998 World Cup for putting the ball between his feet and hopping past defenders.

Fans protested, and Blanco ¡ª hinting that fans might go to Lavolpe's house to make trouble for his family ¡ª said the omission was personal.

Lavolpe, meanwhile, insisted Blanco simply didn't fit into his plans for retooling the team for this year's tournament. He threatened to quit if anyone tried to force him to change the roster to include Blanco.

The statistics back Lavolpe. Despite his theatrics, Blanco wasn't much of a goal producer at the World Cup. He has just two goals in the tournament, one in 1998 and one in 2002, and the second one came on a penalty kick.

Mexico still won its group, beating Croatia and Ecuador and tying Italy. But then came a crushing 2-0 loss to the United States in the round of 16 ¡ª a loss made even more bitter by a non-call on a handball that would have given the Mexicans a penalty kick opportunity.

That November, Lavolpe, a member of Argentina's World Cup title team in 1978, replaced Javier Aguirre as coach.

The focus now is less on the 2002 team's disappointment than on living up to this edition's promise.

"Expectations are very high, and this makes things complicated," said FC Barcelona midfielder Rafael Marquez, who was ejected for banging his head into Cobi Jones when the United States eliminated the Mexicans in 2002. "I think we will have to work very hard to deal with that mentally ... sometimes we are our own worst enemy."

After facing Iran, Mexico plays Angola, ranked 57th in the world, the lowest among World Cup teams, on June 16 in Hanover. The team closes out Group D play against Portugal, the other favorite to move on to the second round, on June 21 in Gelsenkirchen.