The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

As always, the world of soccer never seems to have a dull moment. Here's a look at some recent events in the new The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Section:

The Good: Ronaldinho's recent streak of good form. Even if no one wants to admit it, the world has been missing the talented play of the ever-smiling Brazilian. The previous blog post detailed his hat-trick against Siena; if you haven't read it you should check it out. The reason behind his elevated play? 'Dinho says that it's because of his off-field happiness.

The Bad: Clint Dempsey's knee injury. On Sunday, the American was stretchered off in a English Premier League match against Blackburn. The striker-midfielder was in the process of enjoying a great season at his club, Fulham, and was hoping to build on this momentum heading toward the World Cup in June. Now, that goal seems to have been thrown in jeopardy after what appears to be damage to his posterior cruciate ligament. Fulham's doctors are still waiting to determine the long-term outlook for the injury, but it does not bode well for United States soccer fans.

The Ugly: Algeria and Angola playing to a tie at the African Nations Cup. By "taking it easy" and not trying to win, as Algeria manager Rabah Saadane put it, both Algeria and Angola advanced from their group. Mali, who lost to Algeria but ended equal on points, was eliminated from the tournament after beating Malawi 3-1. Not only do I feel bad for Mali, I feel bad for the fans who had to watch the 0-0 game. I mean, come on; that's not soccer. The fans got cheated for having to pay to see both teams technically play within the rules of the game, but not actually "playing" the game. The draw was not agreed on by both sides, but let's not kid ourselves: was there any way Angola was going to complain with such a result?