"We Even Had Security”: Hassan Sunny & His Daughter On The VIP Treatment They Received In Shanghai After His World Cup Qualifier Performance

In 2024, Lions goalkeeper Hassan Sunny, 42, saw his popularity skyrocket after a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Thailand.

No, Singapore didn’t win — we lost 3-1 in that match —but Hassan pulled off an impressive 11 saves, resulting in a scoreline that ultimately helped China advance to the next round of qualifiers.

The goalie, now retired from the national team but still playing in the Singapore Premier League with Albirex Niigata, became a hero overnight to Chinese fans. He trended on Chinese social media, with many flooding his social media with praise.

His Tampines food stall, Dapur Hassan, also saw a surge in customers, with some even sending him money via the stall’s QR code out of pure gratitude. 

On the latest episode of 8days chat show DNA, Hassan, alongside his eldest daughter Sarah Arissa, 16, reflected on the experience, telling host Rebecca Lim what his sudden rise to fame among Chinese fans was really like.

Recalling the match, Hassan said: “We were losing, but in my mind, I was saying ‘I don’t want to have a bigger scoreline, a bigger margin’. But the Chinese saw otherwise, they said ‘Oh Hassan is helping us, he did not let in one more goal’.”

After the game, Hassan received a call from a Chinese friend about “helping” China’s national team. He was told to check his social media, and that was when he discovered that Chinese football fans were hailing him as a “god”.

“It was quite funny. I was laughing about it, but at the same time, I couldn’t laugh because we lost,” he quipped. 

“My QR code from my shop was getting multiple transactions, so I called my wife. The next morning, she was at the shop at 7am, and [she told me] there were 50 Chinese people lining up right in front of her while she was cutting vegetables,” Hassan added.

He initially thought the attention would just be “an overnight thing”, but it ended up lasting for months.

Even now, he still encounters fans he gained from that one match. 

“I had a game yesterday, so this boy from Shanghai came and told me, ‘Sunny-ge! I come from China, yesterday I flew in, and I’m going back tomorrow. I’ve come today just to see you’,” continued Hassan, who then pulled out a customised alarm clock decorated with images of him on the pitch. 

“Sweet right?” he said.

Talk about next-level fan-made merch. 

Beyond gifts and money, Hassan even received a large banner that read “Thank you for saving China”.

He was later sponsored by CapitaLand to visit Shanghai. He brought his family along and was given the ultimate star treatment. 

Sarah chimed in, “It was so fun, we even had security.”

Hassan added that the Chinese security team even formed “a chain” around his family, like the kind often seen escorting celebrities at the airport.

“I felt like a celebrity. Me, not him,” Sarah laughed. When she visited a Pop Mart store, she also received VIP treatment.

“[They told me to] just take anything I wanted, so I took a whole bag and I filled it with PopMart," laughed Sarah.

Laughing that his daughter was “a Singaporean being a Singaporean”, he revealed she walked away with about S$800 worth of Pop Mart merch that day.

“There were so many people taking photos of us also. It was scary, but also fun, it was my first time experiencing that. My [youngest sister] was so confused,” Sarah added.

Hassan shared that his youngest, who was only two at the time, kept asking questions, curious about why “so many people” were following them around.

When Becks asked how he reacted, he laughed and said he told his daughter: “Nevermind, just enjoy it. You won’t get this anywhere in Singapore.”

Sarah also remembered security running beside their tram, while passengers in the one ahead snapped photos non-stop.

When asked if she felt proud of her dad in that moment, the cheeky teen replied, “I felt proud of myself also.”

“That was one enjoyable experience,” Hassan chuckled.

Photos: Mediacorp, Weibo, hassansunny18/Instagram

To watch the full episode, click here or scroll down to watch.