BEIJING: When news emerged that Chinese fans gathered to show their appreciation to Hassan Sunny by sending him money and patronizing his food stall in Tampines, a Chinese friend asked me if the goalkeeper The Singapore national team had indeed intended to help China.
The friend was referring to Hassan’s remarkable goalkeeping when Singapore faced Thailand in a World Cup qualifier on June 11. Thailand needed to beat Singapore by at least three goals to advance to the next round, but only managed a 3–1 victory, which meant China progressed at Thailand’s expense.
Hassan was later hailed by Chinese netizens as a hero for making 11 saves against the Thais. This sparked an outpouring of support from the Chinese, so much so that Hassan had to urge them to stop sending money to his stall via a QR code.
Although I’m happy that a Singaporean footballer has received greater recognition for his skills, my friend’s question left a bad taste in my mouth.
This has cast an unwanted cloud over Hassan’s superb performance in the match against Thailand, which for me reflects nothing more than the goalkeeper and other members of the Singapore football team who achieved the best possible performance representing Singapore.
Isn’t it expected that every athlete strives to do their best when wearing the national colors?
Given that there is a lot of goodwill in China towards Singapore, I wonder if many Chinese feel like my friend, that a Singaporean footballer would be inclined to do China a favor.
But such thinking would go against the spirit of sportsmanship, synonymous with fair competition.
The irony is that Hassan’s skills were also on display when Singapore faced China in the previous World Cup qualifying matches in March, but he had not then received as much attention from the from Chinese fans.
China beat Singapore 4-1 on March 26, but had to settle for a 2-2 draw when they met earlier on March 21.
Singaporeans might be surprised by the outpouring of gratitude to Hassan from the Chinese, who saw many of them transferring money at his stall via QR code payments.
However, in China, this is not uncommon: Internet users show their love to companies or personalities through their wallets.
For example, they would send payments to their favorite live streamers as a thank you.
In February, when Zong Qinghou, founder of Chinese beverage giant Wahaha, died at the age of 79, Chinese netizens paid tribute to him by purchasing Wahaha products online, triggering a boom in sales.
Zong, a delegate to China’s highest legislative body, the National People’s Congress, was known for his support of proposals to ease the burden on livelihoods.
But in the context of Singapore, it seems strange that a footballer would receive remuneration from interested third parties for his performance in a match. It’s good that Hassan announced that he will donate the money he received from Chinese fans.
That Chinese football fans took Hassan into their hearts is a heartwarming story that has captivated eyes from China to Britain. His exploits and China’s luck came as a welcome relief to Chinese fans amid the state of men’s football in their country.
Even though China has a better record at the Olympics, the men’s soccer team has only reached the World Cup final once: the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan, where she lost all three group matches and was eliminated early.
In contrast, South Korea, its East Asian neighbor and co-host of the 2002 World Cup, became the first nation outside Europe and the Americas to reach the semi-finals that year.
According to the latest rankings compiled by FIFA, the governing body of world football, the Chinese men’s national team is ranked 88th, far behind the United States (11th), Japan (18th) and South Korea (23rd). ).
The sad thing is that football has become a joke in China.
The men’s national team’s poor performance has become a common complaint among Chinese people.
Football in China is also plagued by scandals such as match-fixing, gambling and corruption. In March alone, it was reported that Chen Xuyuan, the former president of the Chinese Football Association, had been sentenced to life in prison for accepting more than US$10 million (S$13.5 million) from bribes.
This is despite China investing billions in the sport, with Chinese companies buying stakes in European teams and developing Chinese provincial teams, in the hope that the country will become a “football superpower” by 2050.
At the same time, Hassan’s popularity among the Chinese seems set to grow: he has already gathered 384,000 fans on his new Douyin account, the Chinese TikTok. On Weibo, he has 24,100 subscribers. On June 16, he drew crowds to Shanghai on a personal trip that also involved appearances at events.
While it is good that Hassan is being acclaimed and attracted by fans in China, his impressive performance in the recent match against Thailand must be viewed in the right spirit.
This is in the spirit of fair play and competition, and not “assistance” to a particular team. -The time of the straits/ANN
