Continent or 21st century of football???

No doubt that this world cup has brought so many surprises and new rules to the game. Dunga said that the globalization has impacted the game a lot, and made the differences too narrow. Let's see who qualified to the 16th round, and what did it mean to the most popular game in the world:

Europe - the big decline:
13 European teams played in this World Cup, only 6 made it to the second round, 7 were out. What is worse, that in the second round, all European teams will play against each other. This means only 3 will be in the quarter final.

In 2006, there were 10 teams in the second round, 4 made it to the semi-final.
In 2002, there were 9 teams in the second round, and 2 made it to the semi-final.

I think the geography can be blamed for part of the story. Whenever the WC is played outside Europe, South American teams get advantage. Yet, this year it is more than that. Not only 7 didn't pass the group stages, but 3 of them were in the bottom of their groups.

South Ameria - the big rise:
We can say exactly the opposite about South America. 5 out of 5 qualified, a 100% perfect record. Something that we never remembering that it happened before, at least since 1990 or 1978 WCs when all SA teams qualified.

Asia better than Africa:

There were always this race between Asia and Africa in the WCs. This could be the best year for Asian teams, considering that they are playing away from home. Japan didn't only qualify, but with a style beating Denmark with 3 beautiful goals. New Zealand which is always considered a weak team, didn't lose a single game. Australia beat Serbia. Only North Korea made it to the bottom of its group.

I was not optimistic for any of the African teams except Ghana and Ivory Coast. Both did great job, one was unlucky to be in the most difficult group. Others were very unconvincing, even in the last two African Cups. Well, Egypt, the best African team today is missing, but this is because of the inefficient African WCQ system.

This is the most disappointing year for Africa. Yet, Ghana has a good chance to go to the Semi-Final. I predict that they can  pass the USA, and they will face Uruguay, and this is a very tough team.

So, what happened? Is it just the fact that they are playing in a different continent? or that the world of football is changing?
I remember in Champion League 2004, when Porto faced Monaco with so many surprises especially La Coruna beating Milano 4-0 and Monaco beating Real Madrid 3-1, we said that the world of football changed forever.

Well, year after year, it got back to the previous order, and even more, the CL cup is only for the bigs, and no place for the small fishes.