As the best teams make their way into the quarterfinals of the World Cup in South Africa, we take a look at some of the other great teams which fell by the wayside for one reason or the other, and recount the tragedy that has befallen them this time around.

By Kelvin Goh Wong

As it is at every World Cup there will be expectations. There will also be controversy and failure. That is usually followed very swiftly by humiliation and criticism by local press. Such is the World Cup. Such is the nature of football. 

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa seems to be riddled with these controversies and disappointments as heavyweight favourites seem to have trouble negotiating so-called "easy" group stages, some even failing to make it through to the next round. Management, player selection and tactics all seem to come under the microscope when things go bad in South Africa. Despite all the hype and the star names and footballing legacies, some big names have taken some big knock-out punches.

FRANCE

One of the great football nations, no one would have expected a team with the likes of Solomon Kalou, Thierry Henry, Patrice Evra, Nicolas Anelka, Franck Ribery and William Gallas not make the knock out stages. The former champions, who managed to drub Brazil 3-0 to lift the title in 1998, only managed one goal in the knock out stages, losing 2 of the three games after the opening 0-0 draw with Uruguay.

To add to the sorry state of the team, after the 2-0 loss to Mexico, a whole can of worms was opened when striker Nickholas Anelka had a huge row with French coach, Raymond Domenech, which ultimately led to him being sent home before the match with South Africa. The sending off of Anelka had a nasty chain reaction.

The entire French team refused to train before their game against South Africa, a must win game for them to have any chance to advance in the competition. The ensuing chaos was brutal. The French president intervened, the fitness coach quit and French captain, Patrice Evra was stripped of his captaincy and put on the bench.

Needless to say they lost the game to South Africa 2-1, with Solomon Kalou netting the only pointless goal in this match as both teams were sent packing.  

ITALY

The difference a single World Cup makes is substantial. Hailed as a returning hero when Italy took home the World Cup in 2006, Fabio Cannavaro was hailed as an impenetrable wall on the defensive side. But what once was a solid defensive wall is now rubble filled with holes and mistakes.

It was mistakes by Cannavaro that forced Italy to have to work with a 1-0 deficit against the likes of Paraguay and New Zealand before getting hammered by Slovakia in their final must win group match F up. It seemed like the solid defending usually associated with the Italian captain has deserted him and all that is left is a shell prone to mistakes. A young and very eager Slovakian side took full advantage of Italy's shoddy defence and aging players.

They out ran, out played and out lasted the Italians which saw them hold on to win the game 3-2. It was truly a devastating blow to the defending champions. Marcello Lippi would have a lot to answer for when he returns to Italy, especially for the selection of many relatively aged underperforming stars that have in every aspect of the game, failed to shine.

AUSTRALIA

After a strong showing in the last few World Cup tournament, the team from Down Under was hoping to solidify their status as a footballing nation and perhaps pull an upset by taking the trophy home. The team however ran into some officiating controversy and failed to keep 11 men on the field in the first two games as Tim Cahill was sent off rather harshly in the 4-0 loss to Germany in their opening match.

It happened again when Harry Kewell was sent off for a deliberate hand ball in the penalty box that looked rather accidental in their 1-1 draw against Ghana. The Socceroos did however end on a good note winning 2-1 against Serbia, who managed an upset against Germany, but it was all too little, too late.

Both Serbia and Australia was sent home as second place Ghana and Group D leaders Germany moved to the round of 16.

ENGLAND

Home to the greatest football league in the world, the English Premier League, England is also home to some of the best footballing talents in the world. The likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Jermain Defoe and many more, the English side seem to be somewhat underperformers in the World Cup.

Having only won the World Cup once (1966), England has not been able to put on a strong showing in the World Cup. Labelled as one of the favourites to win in South Africa, England's "Golden Generation", gifted with what the British media labels as an easy group, they failed to register a win against the United States and Algeria with both matches ending in disappointing draws.

Even their must win game against Slovenia saw an attacking English side find the back of the net once. This win was enough to get them through but they would have to face rivals Germany to advance. The young German side was written off by the German Media as being too young and too inexperienced and would fall to the mighty and experienced English.

The youngsters rose to the occasion, finding the back of the net four times, playing a brand of counter-attacking football which is usually associated with teams from South America. A header from Matthew Upson and a goal by Frank Lampard that should have been was the only two clear cut chances created by the English.

Despair and an early flight home once again for England.