World Cup 2010 - Brought to you the demise of western football dominance?

Rooney: his outburst at the end of last night's match sums up the sense of entitlement that Western European teams have, and the frustration at having their reputations diminished

The World Cup, as you'd expect from the best sport tournament in the world, has proven to be interesting. Despite the opening round of matches not being the greatest set of matches to grace the world stage, there have been a fair few surprises and results that brought a raise of the eyebrow.

It seems that reputations of the 'big' nations are being popped and the confidence (arrogance?) of some teams (ahem, from a certain country that wears white) is being exposed as the groundless assertions that they are. But these popping reputations seem to be concentrated in one area of the footballing world. With this World Cup are we seeing the end of the general dominance that Western Europe has held over international football?
Already we have seen defeats for France, Germany and Spain against generally unfancied opposition. England have been frankly torpid against their North American and North African opposition. Italy (though I hesitate to geographically call it Western Europe, in terms of football culture they are part of it) were held by a mediocre Paraguay.

This is in contrast to the attacking vigour shown by South American teams such as Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, as well as the similarly minded Mexicans. Also showing signs of progress are the Asian teams such as the Koreas and Japan. Though Australia are perhaps displaying their Western European credentials in their opening match defeat.

Is this the end of the era of general dominance by these teams? Though South American sides such as Brazil and Argentina have won many World Cups and are rightly regarded as two of the most dominant teams in world football, major international tournaments have been largely dominated by Western European teams. Certainly these teams regard themselves as the 'big' sides, whether it be the preening sense of entitlement that England generally carry with them or the often arrogant manner in which the Dutch play.

So what could be the reasons behind this seeming fall from grace? One immediate thought (and a scapegoat trotted out in the UK for failings of almost all kind, social, political and sporting) is an influx of foreigners. Top players from all over the world are now playing in the leagues in Western Europe. Money, status and access to the top competitions allows the Premiership, Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga and to a lesser extent Ligue 1 to attract the best talent from around the world.

These players improve by playing at the highest level, but they also get first hand understanding of the footballing culture of the nation they play in. In contrast those players in teams alongside these imports, while getting a glimpse of a different background and approach can never gain that immersion and level of understanding. Players break down the mystique that can surround such distant and highly regarded nations and bring this back to their national teams.

Another factor is the spread of football coverage across the globe. TV and internet highlights are widely and easily available and there is generally more media comment dedicated to the game and these high profile leagues. This once again punctures some of the mystique attached to the famous leagues and nations, others are now not so in awe of their abilities now they have seen the mundane realities of some of the leagues.
Tactics too have evolved, and general technical standards of players have levelled off. Most teams at the World Cup are playing along variations on a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 formation and are generally well drilled in how to play this formation, capable of shutting down a game where needs be even if the attacking intent is not always so pronounced. The cliche that there are no easy games in international football is untrue, Andorra, Fiji, Thailand and the Faroes are all rubbish teams. But it is true that there are no easy games or walkovers at the World Cup finals anymore.

Of course it's too early to tell if Western European teams struggling is a trend, the 2nd round of matches is barely halfway done. You can also argue I'm being selective with the results (I probably am). And it's perfectly possible that all the teams mentioned (with the exception of France who look truly sunk) will get out of their groups and go on to reach the quarter finals.

However it does seem that the reputations of these giants of world football have been weakened and their dominance, while not finished, is on the wane.