LEIPZIG, June 21 (Xinhua) -- World Cup debutants Angola were held a 1-1 tie with Iran in their last Group D match here on Wednesday. Thus, both teams were eliminated while Portugal and Mexico cruised into the last 16 from the group.

    Despite the elimination, Angola, one of the weakest teams viewed by experts at the 2006 World Cup, stunned the world by earning a goalless tie with soccer giants Mexico after losing to powerhouse Portugal 1-0. They won respect from the fans around theworld.

    Iran also showed their great skills on the World Cup pitch, playing attacking football with Mexico and Portugal and even dominating the matches for quite some time. Despite the two losses,no one could look down upon such an Asian team.

    In today's Angola-Iran clash, the two goals all came in the second half.

    Angola had their goal in the 60th minute. A right-wing cross from Figueiredo found substitute Flavio alone at the far post, andFlavio placed his header beyond the reach of keeper Ebrahim Mirzapour.

    This was the first goal scored by Angola in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Flavio said in excitement at the mixed zone," I am very very happy to score that goal."

    "It is very difficult to score at World Cup and I made it," he added.

    The substitute forward said that he was not a regular substitute before.

    "That's nothing. I proved my value today and I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude towards my family who always support me," he said.

    The Iranians got the equalizer in the 75th when defender SohrabBakhtiarizadeh headed home a corner.