First there was France and Italy and then less surprisingly England and Portugal, now Brazil and Argentina have also joined the slagheap for the 2010 World Cup. By the quarterfinal stage many pundits and 'experts' held the belief that the final would feature either Brazil or Argentina, possibly even both, in what would have been a World Cup first.
So much for predictions in the world of football. On Friday evening Dunga's Brazil had imploded in the second half of their quarter-final with the Netherlands, and it now looks like the manager will be leaving his post imminently. Meanwhile Maradona's quest to emulate Mário Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer was shattered by the latter's country.
Many reports naturally covered the German's 4-0 victory with a degree of shock. After all, yesterday's reverse is the heaviest World Cup defeat for Argentina since they were thumped 6-1 by Czechoslovakia in the 1958 competition. The momentum had appeared to be building for Maradona's squad, prior to Germany they had notched up four wins out of four and convinced many that they might be on to something.
Doubts remained over their defence, particularly when Newcastle's Jonas Gutierrez was being used as a makeshift right back earlier in the tournament. Come yesterday and the Germans brutally exposed the space between Argentina's midfield and their defenders through clinical passing and pace.
Much like they had done with England, Germany were merciless in their pursuit of goals and their counter-attacking was a lethal weapon that was utilised every time Argentina desperately tried to test their defence. Whereas England had at least tested Germany a few times during the barrage they suffered, Argentina's wealth of attacking talent was mostly reduced to speculative long shots.
It all seemed a little bewildering to Diego Maradona, who stood pensively in his dug out area. Argentina's favourite son is yet to decide upon his future, and questions have justifiably been asked over his tactics and how he could have omitted both Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti from his squad.
However despite this crushing disappointment a quarterfinal in South Africa still equates to the nation's best World Cup performance since Italia '90 (and in England we think our national team underachieve)! Then of course Maradona captained them and two decades later his shadow looms larger than ever.
As for Germany, despite not being highly rated before the competition began they are now clearly the form team. Going back to predications it should really be of little surprise that Joachim Löw's side has reached the last four. In the last 15 World Cups, Germany or West Germany has at least made the semi-finals on a staggering 11 occasions. How did all the tipsters overlook that? Have we all just been distracted by Löw's synchronised styling with his assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick..?
With the semi-final line-ups complete Europe is once again the dominant force. The South American contingent is of course represented, but few would have expected that representative to be Uruguay ahead of it's highly rated neighbours.
In many ways Uruguay would have been an underdog and neutrals favourite if they hadn't been drawn against Ghana in the quarters. Luis Suárez's talking up of his handball on the line as being "the new hand of God" has felt a little unnecessary. The subsequent penalty miss by Asamoah Gyan meant that Uruguay had dramatically got away with it, but to then raise the issue as if it is a moment of glory is pretty tactless.
Uruguay will next have to overcome the Netherlands, and whilst they will be the underdogs the Dutch will be all to aware that this competition has seen a lot of previous favourites come unstuck. Either way there will be an unusual finalist and one that has not graced that stage for quite some time.
Spain survived a scare against Paraguay on Saturday night. The South Americans, managed by Gerardo Martino, were extremely effective in the way that they harassed Spain and prevented them from getting time on the ball to pass and move. The European Champion's cause was also hindered by an ineffective Fernando Torres who has been as off the boil as Rooney, Ronaldo, Kaká and Messi have generally been in South Africa.
The second half of the match witnessed all sorts of drama, most of which centred on the hour mark. First Paraguay was given a penalty for Pique's man handling of Oscar Cardozo. Unfortunately for Cardoza Casillas comfortably saved his kick and come the final whistle he would end up similarly distraught to Gyan the previous evening.
Within a minute of Cardoza's penalty miss, David Villa had surged into the Paraguayan penalty area and been brought down by Alcaraz. The defender was the last man but escaped with a yellow card and was soon to be left off again. Xabi Alonso coolly scored his penalty but then the referee Carlos Batres insisted on a re-take for encroachment, inevitably Alonso hesitated with his second attempt that was then saved.
Immediately from the rebound Cesc Fabregas ran on to the ball only to be blatantly taken down by Paraguay's own Villar- their goalkeeper Justo. Rather than being a third penalty within five minutes, the moment was missed and Paraguay could now count themselves lucky.
Fabregas's substitution onto the field for Torres had definitely given Spain a spark and eventually Paraguay were to pay for a rare lapse in concentration. In the 82nd minute the ball broke through the middle with Andres Iniesta and he expertly laid it off for Pedro. The substitute's shot smacked off of the left post and came straight back to David Villa, he then steadied himself and curled it onto the right post across the goal line and finally in off of the left post! That makes it 5 goals in as many games for Barcelona's new striker and if Spain makes it all the way he should snatch the golden boot.
Still, even after the sapping effect of Spain's late break-through Paraguay almost earned themselves extra-time. An otherwise absent Roque Santa Cruz got to a spilled Casillas shot in the 88th minute, but his follow-up was unable to get past Spain's no. 1 who spread himself well.
Now we must wait until Tuesday and Wednesday for the semi-final showdowns, some will be hoping for a Netherlands versus Germany final- a fixture where there really is no love lost. On current form it would be foolish to bet against Germany again, but then this has been a World Cup full of surprises...