Big guns struggling to fire on the Cup stage

Gee, what has happened to the big-name teams in this topsy-turvy World Cup?

Even before the second-round group matches in South Africa were completed, we saw underdogs such as Serbia, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan and even Algeria baring their teeth.

Serbia surprised fans by beating three-time champions Germany; Switzerland stopped tournament favorites Spain; England labored harder than expected against an organized Algeria and, even more, Nicolas Anelka left France's foundering World Cup campaign after an alleged bust-up with coach Raymond Domenech, putting salt on Les Bleus' 2-0 loss to Mexico.