By Kimathi Kamau


NAIROBI Adidas Superstar Argento Saldi , Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's fatal attraction with the English Premier League saw a young Manchester United fan jump to his death following the team's defeat to Newcastle on Saturday.


According to Nairobi County Police commander, Benson Kibui, John Macharia, 28, plunged to his death from the seventh floor of an apartment block in Pipeline Estate in Nairobi minutes after his favorite team lost 1-0 to the Magpies at Old Trafford on Saturday night.


Eyewitnesses said the United supporter could not take a second successive home defeat as David Moyes' side plunged 13 points behind leaders Arsenal.


The Gunners misfortunes also led another ardent Kenyan fan, Suleiman Alphonso Omondi, 29, to commit suicide in 2009 when his favorites ironically crashed to the English league titleholders in the UEFA Champions League semifinal.


Police who have launched investigations into the latest incident connected to the two most widely supported foreign clubs in the country said that Macharia died instantly after hitting the ground with his head.


"I confirm that we received the news of a young man who could not stand to see his Manchester United team lose, and instead decided he can die for the sake of a team that is miles far away in Europe."


"We are treating this matter as a case and since this is not the first time we have received such cases, I wish to advice football fans in our country to rather support Harambee Stars than those teams in England who does not recognize them," Kibui said when confirming the Saturday incident a day later.


In 2009, Omondi hung himself with an Arsenal jersey in his house after watching United complete a 4-1 aggregate rout over the Gunners in their Champions League semi in May that year.


He was living in Nairobi's Embakasi neighborhood that is next to Pipeline Estate where the latest EPL connected suicide occurred.


"We were watching the match together, and when Arsenal was defeated, he protested and walked out crying as Man-U fans castigated the losers," Omondi Oloo, one of his friends said at the time.


In Kenya, the popularity of the EPL is at an all time high following years of decline of the domestic league as well as the national team.


Chinese students form the largest overseas group at U.S. universities and their numbers are rising as families spend a fortune in the quest for an American education to pry open the door to career and social success.


For some parents, overseas education is also seen as a way to avoid China's fiercely competitive national college entrance exam known as the "gaokao", which is taken by millions of teenagers who see it as a make-or-break way to get ahead.


"We don't know if it's right or wrong," said Zhao, a mother from the capital, Beijing, who wanted to be identified only by her surname. "We just feel it's better to get an education in the United States than in China."


The stress to get into university in China is severe but tighter job prospects for hordes of graduates are also causing anxiety as the world's second-largest economy slows.


Nearly 7 million Chinese graduated from university this year - a new record and a jump of 190,000 from last year. This has stepped up employment pressure, education authorities say.


To pursue his dream of going to a U.S. university, Li Shiyuan, 17, quit high school in May.


His parents had given him three options - stay in his home province of Shandong, where the college entrance exams are very competitive, move to Tianjin, which has one of China's highest acceptance rates for key universities, or study abroad.


He began in Beijing, by attending three courses to train for tests required by U.S. universities, including the SAT and the TOEFL English-language test.


This month, he sat the SAT exam for the second time in an effort to better his previous score and he plans to return to the Hong Kong test center in December.


"It's much better than in high school, where teachers put too much pressure on us," Li said.


His training for the exams has cost 100,000 yuan ($16,400), almost five times the annual disposable income of the average Chinese city-dweller.


"As long as the family can afford it, I would like my child to go abroad for university to learn some real stuff," said his lawyer Li Xuezong, who accompanied his son to Hong Kong.


Nearly 200,000 Chinese students were at U.S. universities in the 201112 academic year, almost double the number from India, the second-largest group of overseas students, the U.S.-based Institute of International Education says.


While most Chinese study at graduate level, the 201112 academic year saw a surge of nearly a third in undergraduates from China, to about 75,000, institute data shows.


SATs are available only at some international schools in China, where fees are out of reach for most families. Hong Kong holds six SAT sessions a year.


AN OPPORTUNITY - FOR THE WEALTHY


Li Xuezong was one of hundreds of parents waiting patiently outside at Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo, the city's biggest test center, where his son was among the 7,000 exam candidates.