VIVA ESPANA

Spain is the champions of the World. Can you believe that Spain lost their opening game in the World Cup to Switzerland but is now crowned the Champions? They are the first country to have lost their first game and proceed to win the trophy.

SPAIN'S place among world football's all-time greatest teams was assured on Sunday when Andres Iniesta scored with four minutes of extra time remaining to beat the Netherlands 1-0 and clinch his country's first World Cup.

Alongside the European championships 2008 which Spain also won and this makes them the World and European champion at the same time. I watched the entire match and I feel that Spain deserves this victory. I feel that both teams had their fair share of chances but it was Spain's patience that gave them the win. I am also glad that Spain won as they had dominated possession throughout the game and Netherlands definitely did not deserve a win as they played so aggressively like when one of the players gave Xabi Alonso a kungfu kick. This final also sets the record for having most yellow cards in a World Cup final, 14 yellow cards in total.

As a supporter of the Spain national team, I am proud to be a part of this historic moment for their football team. I'm glad they won it now and not like 4 or 8 years back when I wasn't interested in football yet.

source: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Sport/Story/STIStory_552396.html

Is this the only way out?

The article says that just 1 day after the suicide of korean actor Park Yong Ha, three have attempted to take their own lives and two of them succeeded. All three of them are believed to be affected by the death of Park Yong Ha which led to their subsequent actions.

According to a police statement, Roh, 31, said he was "suffering from depression" and started having "suicidal thoughts" after hearing of the "Winter Sonata" actor's demise on June 30. However, Roh's manager claimed that the singer was simply drunk at the time and accidentally fell into the river. Roh may have survived this incident but a 40-year-old female owner of a Korean production house was not so lucky. She apparently hung herself with a belt at home on July 1, leaving behind a suicide note that read "I am sorry mother!" Another 49-year-old woman had also hung herself on that same day. After examining her suicide note, police have expressed that the woman, who was a fan of Park, may have taken her own life to follow her idol.

I am quite taken aback by the attempts of suicide as I don't understand why they would give up their own lives just because their idol is dead. I understand that they might be a really big fan of this korean actor but is life that unworthy to live for just because he is found dead? There are many people out there fighting for their own lives but there are some people who would just end their own lives like that?

Another part of the article,

Suicide is the highest cause of death among those in their twenties and thirties in South Korea, which in 2007 had the highest suicide rate among members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The health ministry said 23.9 in every 100,000 South Koreans committed suicide in 2007, compared with 19.4 in Japan, 16.7 in Finland, 14.2 in France and 14.0 in Switzerland.

I see that the stress level in South Korea is probably really high for their suicide rate to be that high. I think that suicides are really irresponsible as there is always a solution to everything. Committing suicide will not solve the root of the problem but it just pushes the problem to someone else to settle. The two ladies gave their lives away for someone who probably did not know their existence. Was it worth it? It's your decision to make.

source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/1067623/1/.html