Down goes Deutschland

You needed Jack Buck for this one, telling us again he couldn't believe what he just saw. You needed a South Korean Al Michaels, asking the folks back home if they believed in miracles.

You needed, maybe, the late great Howard Cosell, nasally chanting "Down goes Frazier!", only with a small but significant alteration in the script.

Down goes Deutschland. And this World Cup just got curiouser and curiouser.

You would have needed an 18-wheeler to haul away the cash if you'd bet on what happened yesterday, when Germany -- the World Cup defending champs -- bowed out of the tournament in a shocking 2-0 lost to South Korea. With that loss, the Germans, who came in with 4-1 odds to repeat as champions, not only failed to reach the knockout round, but finished dead last in its group.

Sweden -- Sweden -- won the group. Mexico finished second to advance as well. And Germany?

The last time it failed to get out of group play was 1938, when it was in the grip of a certain monster who needs no introduction here. And until yesterday, Germany had never lost to an Asian team in World Cup play.

That's "never" as in, never. Like, ever.

But the South Koreans pulled of a Miracle on Grass, scoring twice in stoppage time to send the defending champs packing. It was a stunning failure on Germany's part, matching the failures of Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014 -- who were also the defending champs, and who also failed to get out of group play.

This, however, somehow seemed more stunning, if only for the inexplicably desultory way Germany played in its three games. It opened with a shutout loss to Mexico, the first time El Tri had beaten Germany in 32 years. Then came a near-death experience against the Swedes in which Toni Kroos brought them back from the dead in stoppage time with the goal of the tournament so far. Then came the historic failure against South Korea, in which the Germans were again uncharacteristically sloppy and listless.

So what happens next?

Well, that's the upside to this: Nobody really knows. Brazil, another of the favorites, won its group but was unimpressive in doing so. Argentina has been shockingly average, if not worse. Portugal has the best player in the world in Cristiano Ronaldo, but he was uncharacteristically listless himself in Portugal's last game.

Spain? Uruguay? Croatia? France?

Hey. Toss 'em all in a hat. Pull out a name. This is about to get interesting.