« on: March 20, 2008, 10:58:40 AM »
See a sort of inexplicable enthusiasm, firm confidence and indomitable tenacity in his face?!! Marvelous?!!
For people who make themselves in distress because of futile, frivolous and trivial reasons?
Lets see him and learn myriad lessons from him?!!
Miracle man walks again
Monday, July 9, 2007.
He survived against all the odds; now Peng Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk again.
When his body was cut in two by a lorry in 1995, it was little short of a medical miracle that he lived.
Peng Shulin
It took a team of more than 20 doctors to save his life. Skin was grafted from his head to seal his torso? but the legless Mr Peng was left only 78cm (2ft 6in) tall. Bedridden for years, doctors in China had little hope that he would ever be able to live anything like a normal life again.
But recently, he began exercising his arms, building up the strength to carry out everyday chores such as washing his face and brushing his teeth. Doctors at the China Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing found out about Mr Peng's plight late last year and devised a plan to get him up walking again. They came up with an ingenious way to allow him to walk on his own, creating a sophisticated egg cup-like casing to hold his body with two bionic legs attached to it.
He has been taking his first steps around the centre with the aid of his specially adapted legs and a resized walking frame. Mr Peng, who has to learn how to walk again, is said to be delighted with the device.
What a Self-Confidence!!!
10 facts about dreams
« on: March 21, 2008, 07:21:13 AM »
10. Blind People Dream
People who become blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion. It is hard for a seeing person to imagine, but the body’s need for sleep is so strong that it is able to handle virtually all physical situations to make it happen.
9. You Forget 90% of your Dreams
Within 5 minutes of waking, half of your dream if forgotten. Within 10, 90% is gone. The famous poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, woke one morning having had a fantastic dream (likely opium induced) - he put pen to paper and began to describe his “vision in a dream” in what has become one of English’s most famous poems: Kubla Khan. Part way through (54 lines in fact) he was interrupted by a “Person from Porlock“. Coleridge returned to his poem but could not remember the rest of his dream. The poem was never completed.
8. Everybody Dreams
Every human being dreams (except in cases of extreme psychological disorder) but men and women have different dreams and different physical reactions. Men tend to dream more about other men, while women tend to dream equally about men and women. In addition, both men and women experience sexually related physical reactions to their dreams regardless of whether the dream is sexual in nature; males experience erections and females experience increased vaginal blood flow.
7. Dreams Prevent Psychosis
In a recent sleep study, students who were awakened at the beginning of each dream, but still allowed their 8 hours of sleep, all experienced difficulty in concentration, irritability, hallucinations, and signs of psychosis after only 3 days. When finally allowed their REM sleep the student’s brains made up for lost time by greatly increasing the percentage of sleep spent in the REM stage. [Source]
6. We Only Dream of What We Know
Our dreams are frequently full of strangers who play out certain parts - did you know that your mind is not inventing those faces - they are real faces of real people that you have seen during your life but may not know or remember? The evil killer in your latest dream may be the guy who pumped petrol in to your Dad’s car when you were just a little kid. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of faces through our lives, so we have an endless supply of characters for our brain to utilize during our dreams.
5. Not Everyone Dreams in Color
A full 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white. The remaining number dream in full color. People also tend to have common themes in dreams, which are situations relating to school, being chased, running slowly/in place, sexual experiences, falling, arriving too late, a person now alive being dead, teeth falling out, flying, failing an examination, or a car accident. It is unknown whether the impact of a dream relating to violence or death is more emotionally charged for a person who dreams in color than one who dreams in black and white. [Source]
4. Dreams are not about what they are about
If you dream about some particular subject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams speak in a deeply symbolic language. The unconscious mind tries to compare your dream to something else, which is similar. Its like writing a poem and saying that a group of ants were like machines that never stop. But you would never compare something to itself, for example: “That beautiful sunset was like a beautiful sunset”. So whatever symbol your dream picks on it is most unlikely to be a symbol for itself.
3. Quitters have more vivid dreams
People who have smoked cigarettes for a long time who stop, have reported much more vivid dreams than they would normally experience. Additionally, according to the Journal of Abnormal Psychology: “Among 293 smokers abstinent for between 1 and 4 weeks, 33% reported having at least 1 dream about smoking. In most dreams, subjects caught themselves smoking and felt strong negative emotions, such as panic and guilt. Dreams about smoking were the result of tobacco withdrawal, as 97% of subjects did not have them while smoking, and their occurrence was significantly related to the duration of abstinence. They were rated as more vivid than the usual dreams and were as common as most major tobacco withdrawal symptoms.” [Source]
2. External Stimuli Invade our Dreams
This is called Dream Incorporation and it is the experience that most of us have had where a sound from reality is heard in our dream and incorporated in some way. A similar (though less external) example would be when you are physically thirsty and your mind incorporates that feeling in to your dream. My own experience of this includes repeatedly drinking a large glass of water in the dream which satisfies me, only to find the thirst returning shortly after - this thirst… drink… thirst… loop often recurs until I wake up and have a real drink. The famous painting above (Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening) by Salvador Dali, depicts this concept.
1. You are paralyzed while you sleep
Believe it or not, your body is virtually paralyzed during your sleep - most likely to prevent your body from acting out aspects of your dreams. According to the Wikipedia article on dreaming, “Glands begin to secrete a hormone that helps induce sleep and neurons send signals to the spinal cord which cause the body to relax and later become essentially paralyzed.”
Bonus: Extra Facts
1. When you are snoring, you are not dreaming.
2. Toddlers do not dream about themselves until around the age of 3. From the same age, children typically have many more nightmares than adults do until age 7 or 8.
3. If you are awakened out of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, you are more likely to remember your dream in a more vivid way than you would if you woke from a full night sleep.
10. Blind People Dream
People who become blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion. It is hard for a seeing person to imagine, but the body’s need for sleep is so strong that it is able to handle virtually all physical situations to make it happen.
9. You Forget 90% of your Dreams
Within 5 minutes of waking, half of your dream if forgotten. Within 10, 90% is gone. The famous poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, woke one morning having had a fantastic dream (likely opium induced) - he put pen to paper and began to describe his “vision in a dream” in what has become one of English’s most famous poems: Kubla Khan. Part way through (54 lines in fact) he was interrupted by a “Person from Porlock“. Coleridge returned to his poem but could not remember the rest of his dream. The poem was never completed.
8. Everybody Dreams
Every human being dreams (except in cases of extreme psychological disorder) but men and women have different dreams and different physical reactions. Men tend to dream more about other men, while women tend to dream equally about men and women. In addition, both men and women experience sexually related physical reactions to their dreams regardless of whether the dream is sexual in nature; males experience erections and females experience increased vaginal blood flow.
7. Dreams Prevent Psychosis
In a recent sleep study, students who were awakened at the beginning of each dream, but still allowed their 8 hours of sleep, all experienced difficulty in concentration, irritability, hallucinations, and signs of psychosis after only 3 days. When finally allowed their REM sleep the student’s brains made up for lost time by greatly increasing the percentage of sleep spent in the REM stage. [Source]
6. We Only Dream of What We Know
Our dreams are frequently full of strangers who play out certain parts - did you know that your mind is not inventing those faces - they are real faces of real people that you have seen during your life but may not know or remember? The evil killer in your latest dream may be the guy who pumped petrol in to your Dad’s car when you were just a little kid. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of faces through our lives, so we have an endless supply of characters for our brain to utilize during our dreams.
5. Not Everyone Dreams in Color
A full 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white. The remaining number dream in full color. People also tend to have common themes in dreams, which are situations relating to school, being chased, running slowly/in place, sexual experiences, falling, arriving too late, a person now alive being dead, teeth falling out, flying, failing an examination, or a car accident. It is unknown whether the impact of a dream relating to violence or death is more emotionally charged for a person who dreams in color than one who dreams in black and white. [Source]
4. Dreams are not about what they are about
If you dream about some particular subject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams speak in a deeply symbolic language. The unconscious mind tries to compare your dream to something else, which is similar. Its like writing a poem and saying that a group of ants were like machines that never stop. But you would never compare something to itself, for example: “That beautiful sunset was like a beautiful sunset”. So whatever symbol your dream picks on it is most unlikely to be a symbol for itself.
3. Quitters have more vivid dreams
People who have smoked cigarettes for a long time who stop, have reported much more vivid dreams than they would normally experience. Additionally, according to the Journal of Abnormal Psychology: “Among 293 smokers abstinent for between 1 and 4 weeks, 33% reported having at least 1 dream about smoking. In most dreams, subjects caught themselves smoking and felt strong negative emotions, such as panic and guilt. Dreams about smoking were the result of tobacco withdrawal, as 97% of subjects did not have them while smoking, and their occurrence was significantly related to the duration of abstinence. They were rated as more vivid than the usual dreams and were as common as most major tobacco withdrawal symptoms.” [Source]
2. External Stimuli Invade our Dreams
This is called Dream Incorporation and it is the experience that most of us have had where a sound from reality is heard in our dream and incorporated in some way. A similar (though less external) example would be when you are physically thirsty and your mind incorporates that feeling in to your dream. My own experience of this includes repeatedly drinking a large glass of water in the dream which satisfies me, only to find the thirst returning shortly after - this thirst… drink… thirst… loop often recurs until I wake up and have a real drink. The famous painting above (Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening) by Salvador Dali, depicts this concept.
1. You are paralyzed while you sleep
Believe it or not, your body is virtually paralyzed during your sleep - most likely to prevent your body from acting out aspects of your dreams. According to the Wikipedia article on dreaming, “Glands begin to secrete a hormone that helps induce sleep and neurons send signals to the spinal cord which cause the body to relax and later become essentially paralyzed.”
Bonus: Extra Facts
1. When you are snoring, you are not dreaming.
2. Toddlers do not dream about themselves until around the age of 3. From the same age, children typically have many more nightmares than adults do until age 7 or 8.
3. If you are awakened out of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, you are more likely to remember your dream in a more vivid way than you would if you woke from a full night sleep.
great post vinoth Grin
Poligami dan Kualitas SDM
Rabu, 19-03-2008 | 01:01:09
Kita tentu sangat akrab dengan kata poligami. Secara harfiah (kamus ilmiah populer), poligami berarti perkawinan antara seorang dengan dua orang atau lebih (namun cenderung diartikan; perkawinan satu orang suami dengan dua orang istri atau lebih).
Bagi kalangan laki-laki penganut poligamisme, hal itu sah-sah saja dilakukan apalagi dengan payung hukum agama yang jelas. Namun tentu saja dengan berbagai retorika. Untuk menghindari perselingkuhanlah dan perzinahanlah maka poligami adalah jawaban yang tepat, kata nya.
Memang dalam sebuah ajaran agama, hal itu diperbolehkan namun dengan berbagai syarat yang harus dipenuhi. Tetapi dalam praktiknya, banyak sekali terjadi yang tidak sesuai syarat yang seharusnya tetapi tetap saja dipaksakan untuk dilakukan.
Dalam hal ini saya tidak akan menyoroti poligami dengan sudut pandang agama, melainkan hubungannya dengan kualitas sumberdaya manusia yang berpoligami tersebut. Dengan tingginya kualitas SDM, dapat memberi warna berbeda dalam menyikapi masalah poligami yang seolah-olah menjadi trend di kalangan borjuis akhir-akhir ini.
Kenapa penekanannya pada kualitas SDM-nya, karena di Indonesia sudah sejak lama mencanangkan program Keluarga Berencana namun konsep/program itu masih baik di atas kertas saja. Sementara implementasinya masih jauh dari yang diharapkan. Buktinya, laju pertumbuhan penduduk Indonesia masih tergolong tinggi. Sudah tentu hal itu menimbulkan permasalahan sosial yang tidak sedikit pula, karena semakin banyak penduduk akan semakin kompleks pula masalah SDM yang dihadapi. Sudah barang tentu perlu mendapatkan perhatian dan penanganan serius. Mengingat manusia merupakan makhluk hidup yang memiliki cipta, rasa dan karsa.
Di kalangan orang yang berpendidikan formal menengah ke atas, sangat jarang ditemukan berpoligami (untuk laki-laki) atau perempuan dengan pendidikan serupa mau ‘dimadu’. Jikalau pun ada, dalam jumlah yang kecil dan terjadi secara sembunyi-sembunyi (terselubung) . Umumnya mereka ‘berpoligami’, pasangan pertama adalah pekerjaan atau profesi mereka dan yang kedua adalah istri/suami yang ada di rumah.
Rendahnya kualitas SDM, menurut saya, bisa mempengaruhi kelanggengan atau keawetan dalam hidup berpoligami yang dilakukan seseorang.
Setidaknya dengan tidak berpoligami, dapat membantu pemerintah menghambat laju pertumbuhan penduduk di Indonesia yang semakin tinggi dan semakin banyak saja orang yang harus hidup di bawah garis kemiskinan serta menjadi miskin di negeri kaya.
Jika belum mampu meningkatkan dan mengelola kualitas SDM, kenapa harus berpoligami? Itu bukan merupakan justifikasi bagi yang sudah mampu mengelolanya untuk bisa berpoligami, tetapi perbandingan dan kerangka berpikir sebelum memutuskan poligami sebagai the way of life yang dipilih.
Jadi kalau prinsip adalah nomor satu, lalu kenapa harus dua, tiga dan empat?
Paulke M Potu
Mahasiswa Program MM Unlam
e-mail: polke_ir@yahoo. com Alamat e-mail ini telah diblok oleh spam bots, Anda membutuhkan Javascript untuk melihatnya
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100 Persen Siswa Tak Lulus UN
Selasa, 11-03-2008 | 01:30:18
• Berdasarkan Try Out UN
BANJARMASIN, BPOST - Ini ‘lampu merah’ bagi pendidikan di Kalimantan Selatan. Hasil try out Ujian Nasional (UN) siswa-siswi Sekolah Menengah Atas (SMA) dan Madrasah Aliyah (MA) sangat memprihatinkan. Jika standar kelulusan UN diterapkan, maka 100 persen siswa jurusan bahasa di seluruh Banua tak lulus.
Tingginya angka ketidaklulusan juga terjadi pada jurusan Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam (IPA) maupun Ilmu Pengetahuan Sosial (IPS). Kegagalan siswa SMA, rata-rata di atas 81 persen. Sedangkan siswa MA-- untuk dua jurusan itu, di atas 96 persen.
Kasi Kurikulum Bina Pendidikan Menengah, Dinas Pendidikan Provinsi Kalsel, Ngadimin Soleh, mengaku prihatin atas jebloknya hasil try out tingkat SMA dan MA. Menurut dia, buruknya hasil try out ini tidak terlepas dari kurang seriusnya sekolah terhadap ujicoba tersebut.
"Padahal, ini sangat penting menjadi tolok ukur kemampuan para siswa," jelas Ngadimin, Senin (10/3).
Akibat sikap sekolah seperti itu, siswa pun kurang serius. Padahal, untuk tahun ini banyak mata pelajaran yang diujikan, termasuk yang sulit, misalnya matematika.
Pihaknya mengimbau para guru fokus memberikan materi ujian sekaligus menganalisis kelemahan para siswa. Demikian juga perhatian para orantua perlu ditingkatkan. "Jangan menyesal, jika nantinya anak tidak lulus, kemudian mengambinghitamkan sistem atau kurikulum pendidikan," ujarnya.
Metroyadi, Kasubdit Dikmen Dinas Pendidikan Kota Banjarmasin menyatakan kerisauannya terhadap banyaknya siswa yang tidak lulus dalam try out UN tahap I itu. "Sangat aneh, ada soal yang 100% tidak bisa dikerjakan oleh siswa," ujarnya.
Berdasarkan Prosedur Standar Kelulusan, dari enam mata pelajaran yang diujikan, ada dua kriteria kelulusan. Pertama, nilai rata-rata 5,25 yang lain tidak boleh ada nilai dibawah dari 4,25.
Kriteria kedua, salah satu mata pelajaran boleh nilai 4, tapi nilai lima mata pelajaran lainnya tidak boleh kurang dari 6. Jika dibawah itu, maka dinyatakan tidak lulus.
Terima Realitas
Pengamat pendidikan Unlam, Sutarto Hadi, mengaku tidak terkejut tingginya angka ketidaklulusan siswa SMA dalam try out UN yang diumumkan Disdik Kalsel, kemarin.
"Sudah menjadi rahasia umum, tingginya tingkat kelulusan selama ini bukan murni kemampuan siswa. Tapi karena bantuan sekolah mendongkrak hasil ujian," ungkapnya.
Dosen FKIP Unlam ini, juga menyatakan, menghadapi UN pada April maka tidak ada cara lain kecuali berusaha jujur menghadapi realita. "Walikota, dinas pendidikan, kepala sekolah, guru, maupun orangtua siswa, harus introspeksi dan jujur menghadapi realita. Tidak perlu malu jika persentase ketidaklulusan tenyata tinggi," ucapnya.
Namun, Kepala SMAN 3 Banjarmasin M Marwani menepis anggapan bahwa sekolah akan berupaya mendongkrak nilai siswa jika hasilnya jeblok. "Itu isu-isu menyesatkan dan tidak bertanggungjawab. Jika dibiarkan berkembang akan berdampak negatif terhadap siswa," tandasnya.
Mantan kepala SMAN I ini berharap siswa terus belajar dan mengikuti ujian sesuai kemampuan masing-masing.
Pihaknya akan menganalisa hasil try out UN siswanya yang merah itu. "Kita akan lihat materi pelajaran yang menjadi kendala siswa. Kita juga berharap disdik melampirkan materi pelajaran apa saja yang mendapat nilai rendah," kata Marwani.
Kepala SMAN 11 Banjarmasin, Gunarto juga mengakui hasil try out UN siswanya tahun ini kurang baik. Dari 67 siswa kelas III jurusan IPS yang ikut ujicoba, hanya tiga siswa yang lulus. Bahkan, dari 51 siswa kelas III jurusan IPA, tak ada satupun yang lulus.
Seperti halnya Marwani, Gunarto juga membantah sekolah akan berupaya mendongkrak nilai siswa jika akhirnya jatuh. "Itu jelas tidak mendidik. Meski sekolah kita pinggiran, namun seluruh dewan guru tetap berusaha meningkatkan kemampuan belajar siswa," tegasnya.
Ia pun buka kartu bahwa, hasil UN SMAN 11 tahun 2007 lalu tidak semua bisa "didongkrak" . Dari 141 siswa, hanya 68 persen lulus.
Biasa
Anehnya, tak semua orangtua mengkhawatirkan hasil ujicoba tersebut. Samini, misalnya. PNS yang anaknya duduk di kelas akhir sebuah SMA ini mengaku tidak khawatir karena selama ini anaknya mempunyai nilai bagus.
"Anisa anak saya selalu mendapatkan ranking satu sejak kelas satu sampai dua. Hanya di kelas III dia di ranking dua," ujarnya.
Lain lagi dengan Ruslan. Meski kaget dengan hasil itu, namun, ia optimis anaknya bisa menghadapi masalah tersebut. "Saya khawatir, namun bagaimana anak saya memenej belajar, biar dia yang menentukan," tuturnya.
Fakta 90 persen siswa di Kalsel tidak lulus try out UN, menurut Wakil Ketua DPRD Kalsel Riswandi adalah kondisi riil yang tidak bisa dibantah. "Saya lihat, proses try out ini sangat jujur. Hasilnya mencerminkan kenyataan," ujarnya.
Hal ini, menurutnya, menggambarkan kualitas pendidikan di Kalsel belum bagus. Banyak ketimpangan sistem, yang selama ini terkesan hanya mengejar kuantitas nilai, tapi meninggalkan pencapaian kualitas siswa.
Riswandi juga menyayangkan jika selama ini ada gejala kecurangan di berbagai sekolah. Misalnya, guru sengaja memberikan kunci jawaban agar murid mendapat nilai bagus, dengan harapan nama sekolah menjadi harum. Menurutnya, hal itu sangat kontraproduktif. (dua/mdn/tin/ bb/cc
The Nature of Character
Abraham Lincoln was very concerned with character, but he was also aware of the importance of having a good reputation. He explained the difference this way: "Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
Put another way, your reputation is what people think of you. Your character is what you actually are.
In a world preoccupied with image, it's easy to worry too much about our reputation and too little about our character. Building a reputation is largely a public-relations project; building character requires us to focus on our values and actions. Noble rhetoric and good intentions aren't enough.
What we're looking for is moral strength based on ethical principles. Character is revealed by actions, not words, especially when there's a gap between what we want to do and what we should do and when doing the right thing costs more than we want to pay.
Our character is revealed by how we deal with pressures and temptations. But it's also disclosed by everyday actions, including what we say and do when we think no one is looking and we won't get caught.
The way we treat people we think can't help or hurt us (like housekeepers, waiters, and secretaries), tells more about our character than how we treat people we think are important. People who are honest, kind, and fair only when there's something to gain shouldn't be confused with people of real character who demonstrate these qualities habitually, under all circumstances.
Character is not a fancy coat we put on for show. It's who we really are.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
Michael Josephson
www.charactercounts.org >
Senang Meski Tanpa Dinho
Barcelona - Tidak tampilnya Ronaldinho tak membuat Barcelona menjadi gagal menang. Bermain di Nou Camp, Barca membabat Real Valladolid dengan skor 4-1. Tapi Frank Rijkaard tetap kehilangan.
Bojan Krkic menjadi bintang kemenangan Barca dalam pertandingan yang digelar Senin (24/3/2008) dinihari WIB tadi. Dua gol diborong oleh pemain muda binaan Los Cules tersebut. Dua gol lain datang lewat Samuel Eto'o dan Andres Iniesta. Sedangkan gol balasan Valladolid dihasilkan Jonathan Sesma.
Ronaldinho sendiri belum bisa memperkuat Barca karena masih didera cedera. Meski cedera itu diragukan banyak pihak, Rijkaard mengaku tak kecewa dengan absennya Dinho dan malah memberi dukungan.
"Saat dia bilang bahwa dia cedera maka ia tak masuk ke dalam tim. Saya tidak kecewa karena ia sudah memberikan banyak hal untuk klub dan tim ini," tutur pelatih Barcelona itu seperti diwartakan Goal.
Selain Dinho, ada dua pemain kunci Barca yang lain yang juga belum cukup fit untuk merumput. Rijkaard pun memanjatkan harapan agar para pemain yang cedera itu bisa segera bermain kembali.
"Saya berharap untuk bisa memiliki mereka lagi secepatnya. Saya berharap kami bisa segera menyaksikan Deco, Rafael Marquez dan Ronaldinho," imbuh manajer asal Belanda itu.
Selain persoalan terkait Dinho, Rijkaard boleh merasa senang dengan kemenangan yang diraihnya dengan meyakinkan atas sebuah tim yang memang datang dengan niat bermain defensif.
"Kami ingin menunjukkan bahwa kami dapat bermain melawan tim yang lebih rendah peringkatnya. Saya ingin mengucapkan selamat pada para pemain untuk reaksi mereka dan kemenangan ini," pungkas Rijkaard.
Ronaldo Masih Terus Cetak Gol
Jakarta - Sulitnya rasanya tidak menyebut nama Cristano Ronaldo dalam beberapa pekan terakhir. Apalagi winger Manchester United ini sukses mencetak gol ke gawang Liverpool.
Midweek ini Ronaldo baru saja mendapatkan banjir pujian setelah dia memborong dua gol saat mengatasi Bolton. Ketika itu Ronaldo mematahkan rekor winger tersubur MU George Best dengan menciptakan 33 gol dalam satu musim.
Sementara Best hanya mengumpulkan 32 gol. Meski demikian, Ronaldo memang sedang on fire. Ia kembali mencetak gol guna menambah koleksinya menjadi 25 gol di Premiership atau 34 gol di seluruh kompetisi di musim ini.
Namun gol yang dibuatnya di Old Trafford, Minggu (23/3/2008) terasa sangat berbeda karena lawan yang sedang dihadapi adalah Liverpool. Apalagi pada pertandingan tersebut Ronaldo bersaing dengan rivalnya dalam daftar top skorer yaitu Fernando Torres.
Winger Portugal ini masih terus membuktikan kelasnya sebagai pencetak gol terbaik di dunia. Gol dari kaki dan juga kepala Ronaldo diyakini masih akan mengalir guna membantu MU mempertahankan gelarnya.
Meski demikian, bukan hanya MU yang berpeluang meraih gelar di musim ini . Ronaldo juga memiliki kesempatan besar untuk memenangi Sepatu Emas jika masih tetap bertahan sebagai pencetak gol tersebut di musim ini.
Yang jelas, Manajer MU Alex Ferguson sangat berharap Ronaldo dapat menjadi penentu kemenangan di laga-laga selanjutnya. Apalagi MU akan jumpa Arsenal pada 13 April dan menghadapi Chelsea di Stamford Bridge 26 April nanti.
Valencia Permalukan Madrid, Bilbao Menang Tipis
Madrid - Sebuah gol di penghujung pertandingan dari Javier Angel Arizmendi membawa Valencia membuat kejutan besar di Santiago Bernabeu. Valencia sukses mengalahkan Real Madrid 3-2.
Pada pertandingan yang dilangsungkan Senin (24/3/2008) dinihari WIB itu, Valencia memang tampil cukup impresif semenjak peluit tanda dimulainya laga ditiupkan oleh wasit.
Hasilnya, El Che sudah memimpin saat pertandingan berusia 33 menit. David Villa membobol gawang Madrid melalui sebuah bola lambung yang memerdayai kiper Iker Casillas.
Tak sampai dua menit, Madrid membalas. Bermula dari sebuah umpan silang Robinho dari sisi kiri, bola kemudian dicocor Raul Gonzalez ke gawang Valencia. Dalam prosesnya, Raul mengatasi kawalan Ivan Helguera.
Di babak kedua, tempo permainan Madrid makin meningkat. Los Merengues pun berbalik unggul 2-1 saat Raul mencetak gol lagi di bilangan menit ke-56 pertandingan. Raul mencetak golnya ini memanfaatkan umpan terobosan yang dilepaskan oleh Guti Hernandez dari lapangan tengah.
Bencana bagi Madrid terjadi di menit 66. Saat itu, wasit menuduh Fabio Cannavaro menjatuhkan David Silva di kotak terlarang pertahanan Madrid. Penalti pun menjadi hukuman yang tak terhindarkan.
Villa yang menjadi algojo Valencia tak menyia-nyiakan kesempatan. Tendangan penalti pemain timnas Spanyol itu mengarah ke sisi kanan bawah gawang dan sukses memperdayai Casillas. Skor pun berubah menjadi 2-2.
Dua menit menjelang usainya pertandingan, Valencia memastikan hadirnya kemenangan melalui gol Arizmendi. Melalui sebuah serangan cepat, Arizmendi lolos di sisi kiri pertahanan Madrid.
Mengecoh Cannavaro, Arizmendi membobol gawang Madrid dengan sebuah tembakan pelan dari suduh yang sempit. Valencia pun pulang dengan kemenangan 3-2 di tangan.
Kekalahan ini membuat Madrid gagal menjauh dari kejaran Barcelona yang sebelumnya meremukkan Valladolid 4-1. Jarak antara penghuni peringkat 1 & 2 La Liga itu tetap berjumlah empat poin.
Sementara itu di Stadion San Mames, tuan rumah Athletic Bilbao sukses mempecundangi tamunya Getafe dengan skor tipis 1-0. Gol tunggal tim papan bawah La Liga itu dicetak Joseba Etxeberria di menit ke-28.
