Road to Recovery

Breaking down the injury situation for the South Africa-Mexico match on June 11 in Johannesburg.

South Africa

Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has a healthy squad to work with for the World Cup opener, with no player injuries to worry about.

Mexico

Mexican defender Rafael Marquez strained a muscle in his right leg during Mexico's 2-1 win over Italy in a friendly on June 3. It was feared that the FC Barcelona star might not recover in time for the game against South Africa.

But he recently returned to training and the expectation is that he will be in the starting line-up. That's good news for Mexico, as Marquez is one of the team's most experienced veterans, he can play a variety of positions (at the back and in midfield) and provides the team with solid on-field leadership. 

Striker Guillermo Franco also recently returned to training after suffering a muscle sprain in a recent friendly against England.

But coach Javier Aguirre now has a tough choice to make: does he start the 34-year-old Franco or 22-year-old Javier Hernandez?

Hernandez has scored three times in four games for his country and was recently signed by Manchester United.

Franco was a starter for Mexico at the 2006 World Cup but fell out of favour by coaches Hugo Sanchez and Sven Goran Eriksson, before being recalled by Aguirre.

Considering Franco might still be feeling the effects of the injury, look for Aguirre to start Hernandez against South Africa.