Brazil arrived in Germany under the weight of frenzied expectations and anything less than successfully defending the World Cup would be deemed a failure.

Four years ago they were hardly tested as they emerged victorious from a largely mediocre tournament where underdogs wreaked havoc on football's major nations.

But this time it was always going to be different.

This World Cup will always be regarded as the return of the super powers and this is why everybody's second team struggled to stand out during their relatively short stay in Germany.

The South Americans were quite simply not up to it and never looked capable of reaching the final on July 9, let alone winning it.

Although Brazil won their first four games, keeping three clean sheets along the way, these were against smaller nations who almost seemed resigned to an honourable defeat before they even kicked-off.

Australia and Croatia, in particular, gave a spirited account of themselves but rather predictably failed to emerge with a share of the spoils as the Samba Boys ground out the all important victories necessary to reach the knockout phase.

In their opening match against the European side, Carlos Alberto Parreira's men prevailed with a narrow 1-0 triumph but Kaka's wonder goal on the stroke of half-time somewhat masked over the worrying cracks which would eventually be found out.

Even the hard-working and rugged Aussies made life difficult for the individually talented Brazilians, who just seemed to lack that required telepathy which all great teams need to win a major tournament.

Supporters of Brazil could argue they simply did all that was required and the job was done. After all, there's no point peaking too soon because it's a marathon not a sprint.

And just when everyone had written off their chances on the basis of these opening couple of disappointing displays, they seemed to relax against Japan and treat us to some sparkling football which resulted in a crushing 4-1 victory.

Even Ronaldo appeared to be back on song, scoring two goals as the side played to their famous flamboyant beat and mesmorised their opponents with silky skills, sharp passing and unforgiving speed of movement which relentlessly sliced open the defence with ease.

However, despite finally showing glimpses of their best, this was to be merely a false dawn rather than an indicator of what was to come.

In the last 16 clash with Ghana, Ronaldo gloriously became the highest scorer in World Cup finals history as Brazil ran out 3-0 winners - but this does not tell the full story of the alarming problems in the team.

Had the African surprise package not been let down by terrible composure in front of goal and awful bad luck, the scoreline could have been so different.

Ghana missed a hat-full of chances to make the contest close while Adriano's killer goal just before the break should have been deemed offside and from that moment on, the result was a formality.

The South Americans were allowed to waltz along into the quarter-finals where they would meet their 1998 conquerors France, who were now slowing starting to hit their peak.

And this is where it all went wrong.

For the first time since that night in Paris eight years ago, they came up against a team with passion, drive, determination and sheer class.

It was simply too much for them to handle and for virtually the full 90 minutes they were dominated by a far superior opposition who had the masterful Zinedine Zidane, the commanding Patrick Vieira and the battling Claude Makelele running the show in midfield while the stealth-like Thierry Henry popped up in the 57th minute to supply the decisive winning goal.

Brazil never looked like breaking the stern French defence down and Ronaldo, just like the France '98 final, was all but absent from the scene while the likes of Kaka, Juninho and Ronaldinho were nullified and shackled.

At the final-whistle the Brazilians sunk to their knees as realisation of their premature exit began to hit home but in truth, it was no surprise.

There were too many players selected on past reputations and while ageing stars like Cafu and Roberto Carlos proved to be well past their sell by dates, Ronaldo was clearly too out of shape to reach his pinnacle of performance.

Kaka, Robinho and Ze Roberto occasionally looked the part but rarely clicked together in unison to cause the damage so many had hoped they would.

And as for Ronaldinho - he was such a sorry sight to behold. Only sparingly did the Barcelona wizard dazzle us with sublime skills or split open defences with unconventional passes and tricks.

He never turned up to the party and perhaps this was a mixture of fatigue from his club's Champions League winning season or simply just being drowned by bigger egos around him.

But no single player was to blame. For all their hyped up status as both individuals and more importantly as a team they all let their country down, proving that coasting along on an air of invincibility was a fateful mistake.