MEXICO CITY — Marcelino Garcia Paniagua shifts in his seat and squints slightly upon hearing the question, but he does not flinch. The president of the Mexican Football Federation--although he was not in charge at the time of the scandal--is accustomed to answering it.

The issue has been a source of shame to many Mexicans--the soccer-loving country's humiliating two-year ban from international play in 1988 for falsifying documents and using four over-age players in qualifying for the world youth tournament.

"It was very, very embarrassing," Paniagua said. "There was great suffering. The fans were sad. They wanted their team to represent them. The results were that FIFA decided to punish us. We were punished. The punishment reached our souls. Now, we are trying to do things the right way."

After its brief but painful exile, Mexican soccer is back with a vengeance. With new leadership in the federation and a successful new coach, Mexico became the first team other than automatic qualifiers Germany and the United States to gain a place in this year's World Cup.

Mexico plays its last tuneup game against the U.S. team today at the Rose Bowl at 4:30 p.m.

In the exhilaration of Mexico's locker room after that qualifier against Canada in Toronto last spring, in the midst of the champagne spray and the players' dancing children, the afternoon's hero--soft-spoken Francisco Cruz--found the few words to express his joy.

"Today, Mexico is very happy," he said. "Mexico has been waiting for this for so long. It is beautiful."

The way back for Mexico has been hard, and made harder by the passion the country feels for its national team. But Mexican soccer is fueled by passion, and the team performs at its best when the odds are against it. Such was the situation in World Cup qualifying.

It began with the anthem and typical soccer gamesmanship. Mexico played at El Salvador in a qualifying match in April 1993, and the Salvadorans said they forgot to play the Mexican national anthem. The Mexicans took it as a national slight.

A month later in Toronto, before the decisive qualifier, the Mexican national anthem was played, but in a condensed version. Mexican fans did not miss a beat, though. Even after the music ceased to play over the public address system, they continued to sing as their national team stood at attention.