Powers that were

 So remember the other day, when tiny Ecuador stunned Germany 2-1 in the group stage of the World Cup?

Well ... as Johnny Olsen used to say, "But wait, there's more!"

"More" in this case being, "Germany is out of the World Cup."

Got nicked 4-3 in PKs by Paraguay -- just a suggestion, but maybe Deutschland should avoid South America from here on out -- and was bounced in its first game in the knockout round. The game ended in a 1-1 draw after a German goal was disallowed that apparently shouldn't have been disallowed.

But wait, there's more!

Not only are the once-mighty Germans gone with the expanded knockout round barely begun, so is the Netherlands. The Dutch went down to Morocco in their round-of-32 match, also on PKs. It was their earliest World Cup exit ever.

So two powers-that-be are gone, calling into question whether they're now just powers-that-were. One can only imagine what great departed souls from each country must be saying, having gloried in the spangled days of the Franz Beckenbauer Germans and Johan Cruyff and the Clockwork Orange.

"For cripe's sake, Paraguay? We got knocked out by PARAGUAY?? Can anyone even find Paraguay on a map?", Bismarck and  Goethe must be spluttering.

And from the Dutch?

"Dutch Masters, my a**!" Van Gogh is surely fuming. "This team looks like it was conceived by that lunatic Bosch!"

"Hey!" Hieronymus Bosch weighs in. "Bite me, you one-eared freak!"

Whereupon they commence throwing paint at one another.

In all seriousness, though, maybe Germany and Netherlands bowing out is just a nod to the world's game actually becoming more worldly.

South America has always been strong, of course, so no surprise that Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador and Colombia all reached the knockout phase. A bit more revealing, however, is the fact Canada just notched its first knockout win ever, and eight African nations made the round of 32 -- including tiny Cape Verde, playing in its first World Cup, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which got in by beating Uzbekistan 3-1 the other day.

It was DR Congo's first World Cup win ever. Les Leopards get England next in their first knockout game.

England: Another traditional power, and one which has already been played to a nil-nil draw by Ghana. 

Bet the Three Lions if you must. But beware the prevailing theme.