PUBLISHED ONJune 12, 2024 9:42 AMByBhavya RawatLim KeweiLions goalkeeper Hassan Sunny's nasi padang stall drew large crowds and numerous five-star reviews from Chinese football fans following his performance in Singapore's World Cup qualifier match against Thailand on Tuesday (June 11).
Thailand needed to win with a three-goal margin to make it to the final round of Asia's qualifiers. It clinched the match, but the 3-1 score was not enough to stop second-placed China from advancing to the next stage.
Chinese fans attributed China's progress to Hassan's heroics in the match, where he chalked up 11 saves, as well as Iksan Fandi's goal.
The 40-year-old was lauded by the fans as a hero and trended on Chinese social media.
In Singapore, they flocked to his stall, Dapur Hassan, at a coffee shop in Block 144 Tampines Street 12. Pictures posted by multiple users on Xiaohongshu on Wednesday showed long queues.
Some Chinese football fans also snapped pictures with the stall's green signboard.
"The saviour of the Chinese national football team, the Singaporean goalkeeper who sells nasi lemak has become famous," wrote one netizen who patronised the stall.
"Eating this nasi lemak on behalf of 1.3 billion people," wrote another.
Singaporean Keith Ong, a regular of the coffee shop, told The Straits Times: "Usually there's less than 20 people (queueing at the stall). Today was a drastic difference, it was jam packed."
The 39-year-old said there were more than 50 people in the queue by the time he left at noon.
"You could tell that everybody came for Hassan, they looked Chinese, and they were using Douyin," he added.
Several Chinese fans also left five-star Google reviews for the stall, though many did not talk about the food and some admitted to not having visited the stall.
One review said: "Although we don't know each other, I appreciate the hope and effort you have brought to Chinese fans. A person who can sacrifice themselves for others deserves praise for everything they do."
"The great goalkeeper still received a yellow card for delaying time even when Singapore was trailing. He sent the Chinese team from the ICU to KTV. Thank you, Singapore," wrote another reviewer.
Some fans in China also showed their appreciation by transferring money to Hassan's business. The stall's QR payment code had circulated on social media.
One fan told Sina News: "At first, I wanted to transfer $188.88 as it was an auspicious number. But I realised it would mean transferring more than 1,000 yuan, so I calmed myself down and decided to transfer $50."
"$50 is around 268.88 yuan, which also sounds quite auspicious, so I made the transfer right away. Paying this sum to express my love for the Chinese football team is money well-spent."
A six-second clip of Hassan thanking the Chinese fans has also gone viral on Chinese social media platform Weibo, garnering over 150 million views. The hashtag "Singapore goalie thanks Chinese fans" was also used about 19,000 times.
In the video, Hassan said "xie xie, China" and his teammate Iksan added: "He saved China ah."
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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com
lim.kewei@asiaone.com
