Given the number of talking points, you might have expected a little more from Belgian manager George Leekens afterwards, but the man who bamboozled the media with his pre-match observations in Dublin late last year was erring on the side of caution this time around. "I don't know whether I should be unhappy or not with the result," he pondered aloud, before providing an answer, adding, "but when you're 2-0 up and playing against 10 men you ought to finish up winning."

Well, generally you should all right and deep down Leekens must know that his Belgian side rather blew it in Bordeaux on Saturday, taking good advantage of another controversial sending off to carve out a good lead and a gangway to the second round, then losing their way, a man of their own, and ultimately the initiative in the Group E qualification race.

They had problems, of course. The heat, after a generally mild build-up to the first week of this tournament, was oppressive.

Outside in the shade it was 38C, inside the ground considerably worse and 112 spectators had to receive medical attention with two kept in hospital overnight.

Obviously the conditions took their toll on the major participants as well. Belgium's best player on the day, Marc Wilmots, said afterwards that he had lost 11 pounds during the contest and with just one of the Europeans's starting line-up under 29 it wasn't hard to guess which side was going to come off worst.

Neither Leekens nor his players made much of the problem, though. "It was," said Enzo Scifo "the same for both teams but at the end the Mexicans simply played better than us."

That they did all right with Ramon Ramirez, as he did against South Korea a week earlier, tearing the Belgians apart down the left hand side in a second half that greatly outshone the first while his strikers steadily gained a firmer grip on matter around the opposition's box.

Luis Hernandez, in particular, gained at least a couple on his markers as the second half progressed and the impact was telling. Outplayed and overrun after Pavel Pardo had been dismissed in the 26th minute, the Mexicans dominated the closing stages after Gert Verheyen's foul on Ramirez had evened up the numbers.

During Belgian's strongest spell they had scored twice, Wilmots getting a scrappy close-range goal two minutes before the break and a wonderful individual effort two minutes after it, but they had the chances to add a third by the time Verheyen's trip allowed Alberto Garcia Aspe to pull one back from the penalty spot.

From then until Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored one of the goals of the tournament, after great work by Jesus Arellano and Ramirez, eight minutes later the question was whether the Belgians could steady the ship and hang on to their lead.

Once the equaliser had been scored there could only really have been one winner although, much to Leekens' relief one presumes, the Mexicans looked relatively content to come away with a point themselves.

After seeing the Dutch destroy a team they had had their problems with later that evening, manager Manuel Lapuente may not have been so happy with the point.

The Mexicans still need to win their last match to be sure of a place in the last 16 while their opponents require a draw to be certain of progressing.

"After today our position is better than that of the Belgians, since we have four points and they only have two," said Garcia Aspe. Nobody from the Belgian camp was in any mood to argue with the Mexican captain.

Goalscorer Blanco said afterwards: "We managed a great draw after coming from behind thanks to our enthusiasm, our heart, and the help of God.

"We never thought we would lose. The idea never even entered our head."

Pardo said his sending off was unjust. "I thought the referee was going to pull out a yellow card. I was stunned," he said.

"All we lacked was a bit of luck today."