FIFA World Cup: South America Exit Cup Outplayed, Shamed and Out Of Luck

The Netherlands defeating the Uruguayans finally put to rest the notion that was gaining quite some momentum after the initial few rounds of matches. After the group round matches were completed, a lot of experts all around the world hailed the seeming supremacy of South America.

It proved to be premature.

Losses suffered by the French and Italian squads in this World Cup and the dismal display by the English made experts rush to this conclusion.

The reality was pretty obvious though. The French team didn't arrive South Africa with the required mentality to play a World Cup. Italy, the defending champ, somewhat echoed the French performance in the World Cup 2002 after they'd won in 1998 for similar reasons.

Another point that can be raised to explain the Italian debacle is the composition of their squad. Whereas eventual semi-finalists (to date) Spain flocked their team with players from their top club in the country, Barcelona, the Italians picked none from the most successful Italian club from the Serie A, and only went for most mid-table heavy-weights.

However, the exit of the rest of European superpowers like England has been at the hands of European counterparts only.

It would still be very wrong to point out though that the Latin Americans were just overrated. In Argentina and Brazil, the World Cup 2010 did witness some fascinating football in the World Cup as the teams tore past their opponents to proceed into the next round.

The problem with the estimation, though, lies elsewhere. To begin with, Argentina didn't do much against a compact Nigerian outfit and launched their offensive attacks against the likes of South Korea and Greece. Neither of which is really known for their attacking prowess.

The team played well around Messi through and through and with a semblance of luck were able to rout Mexico. Then came their moment of truth when they came face-to-face with arguably the most attacking team in the competition,Germany.

Maradona's dismal decision not to pick Zanetti and other experienced defenders showed as they were demolished by the Germans. They were outclassed in a 4-0 rout.

Brazil, the most successful team from the South American continent, had other problems, though. Just like Maradona, Dunga had also come with some shockers when it came to selecting the 23-man squad. The press couldn't raise a strong voice though as Dunga had  won every tournament Brazil participated with him in the hot seat.

Although the Brazilians did put together a string of mature displays against the likes of the Ivory Coast and Chile, it was clear from the very beginning that Brazil's play was a copy-paste of the European style with no concern for dribbles and the beautiful Latin American style of play.

The Brazilian resolve wasn't tested before they came face to face with the Dutch. The Dutch surprisingly took complete control of the game in the second half after being outplayed by a similar margin in the first. The Brazilians lost their cool and took a very rough approach to dismantling the Netherlands

In more ways than one, after falling behind to the Dutch, the Brazilians never looked like a team with such a rich heritage in this grand tournament. They emerged second-best in their attitude towards the game and were deservedly forced out.

The only South American Nation that reached the semis was Uruguay. They did so by not only breaking the hearts of thousands of Ghanaian supporters, but almost cheating their way through. It would be fair to say that Uruguay were at least the least gracious of all the semi-finalists to go through.

Just like the Italians in the last World Cup, the Uruguayans were rarely tested throughout the competition, before they came up against the dutch.Though they made their life as difficult as possible versus Ghana and for quite some time against South Korea, they could not really pull off a performance like the Italians did against Germany four years back.

A deserved Red card to Suarez, injuries to Lugano and Lodiero as well as suspensions of Fucile didn't aid their cause either. Though they gave their all, they emerged second-best against the 1988 European Champions just like their neighbours had managed a few days back.

The Argentines were outclassed, the Uruguayans shamed and the Brazilians out of sorts. Surprisingly the best South American Nation in the quarter-finals were the Paraguayans, who stretched the present European Champions all the way, but unfortunate decisions by a linesman and spot kick misses meant they had left themselves with too much to do.

Although Diego Forlan was superb, only Messi, Robinho and Alexis Sanchez tried to present the beautiful football to the world from amongst the South American Nations this World Cup though all of them play for European Club football clubs. (Robinho is yet to make his loan move to Santos,permanent and is still a Man City player).

After this Dutch victory it is clear that the myth of no European Nations winning outside their continent has been busted as it is surely going to be an all-European Final yet again after the 2006 saga.

Thus would it be fair to conclude that the exit of the South Americans is just a cosequence of the death of their beautiful style of play , the "Joga Bonito" which they so prided upon..or is it just that the European Football has evolved to be the fittest to move ahead!!