Hassan Sunny

Hassan bin Abdullah Sunny (born 2 April 1984) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Singapore Premier League club Home United[3] and the Singapore national team.

In this Malay name, there is no family name. The name Sunny is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Hassan.
Hassan Sunny
Personal information
Full name Hassan bin Abdullah Sunny[1]
Date of birth (1984-04-02) 2 April 1984
Place of birth Singapore
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Lion City Sailors
Number 18
Youth career
2000–2002 National Football Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003 Geylang United 31 (0)
2004–2005 Young Lions 43 (0)
2006–2007 Geylang United 52 (0)
2008–2011 Tampines Rovers 71 (0)
2012–2014 Warriors 53 (0)
2015–2016 Army United 54 (0)
2017 Home United 19 (0)
2018–2019 Army United 50 (0)
2020– Lion City Sailors 8 (0)
National team‡
2004– Singapore 85 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:54, 29 November 2017 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2019[2]

Club career

Along with Baihakki Khaizan, Shahril Ishak and Khairul Amri, Hassan was in the pioneer batch of the National Football Academy in 2000.[4]

Hassan has previously played for S.League clubs Tampines Rovers, Geylang United and Young Lions.

According to an interview with him done in November 2007, he only started playing football competitively when he was 10, captaining his school, May Primary School. He later went on to represent Braddell Secondary School football team as well.

Hassan started out in football as a midfielder, only switching to between the sticks due to an asthma attack he suffered when he was 12. He also quipped that his happiest football memory was that, back in 1999, he scored the winning goal from the halfway line in a game that ended 2-1.[5]

Hassan joined the Eagles from the Singapore U-18 team and quickly cemented his spot in the first team, earning an S.League Young Player of the Year nomination for his confident performances and knack of pulling off blinding saves.

Singapore Armed Forces

In December 2011, Hassan joined SAFFC, after four years of service as Tampines Rovers' first-choice goalkeeper.

His brilliant performances in the 2014 S.League season helped the Warriors win the S.League title.[6] He also became the first goalkeeper to win the S.League Player of the Year award in 2014.[7]

Army United

Hassan joined Army United F.C. for the 2015 Thai Premier League season. He made his debut in a 1-0 win over Royal Thai Navy F.C..[8] After a series of games in good form Hassan excelled in a surprising 1-0 away win at Suphanburi F.C., handing the latter side their first home defeat of the 2015 season as well as giving Hassan man-of-the-match award. After the game Suphanburi player Jakkaphan Pornsai said Hassan's performance was the main reason Suphanburi lost the match.[9] In November 2015 Hassan signed a new two-year contract with the club.[10] In December 2016 after the relegation of Army United from Thai League 1, Hassan Sunny was released from the team, ending two years of service at the Thai club.[11]

Home United

Following his release from the Thai League side, Hassan signed for S.League side Home United FC.[6]

Return to Army United

After the end of 2017 S.League season, Hassan re-signed for Army United and will play for them in the 2018 Thai League 2 season. He made his second debut for the club in the club's season opener against Nongbua Pitchaya on 10 February 2018, facing off against another Singaporean goalkeeper, Izwan Mahbud, who was also making his debut.[12]

Return to Home United

After 2 seasons with Army United, Hassan penned a two-year deal with his former club, Home United.[13]

International career

A graduate of the National Football Academy, Hassan forced his way into the Singapore against India after a superb debut season with Geylang United in 2003.

With midfielder Shahril Ishak, defender Baihakki Khaizan and winger Muhammad Ridhuan, he is part of the 'NFA Gang of Four', the quartet which has played together since their early teenage years and earned senior international honours in 2003.

He kept goal for the U-23 team that participated in the 2003 South-East Asian Games in Vietnam, before joining the Young Lions for the 2004 S.League season.

His first appearance in a Lions shirt came in August 2003 when the young keeper replaced Rezal Hassan at half-time in a friendly against the Japan Olympic team.

He had to wait until 18 February 2004 for his first cap for the Singapore though, which came against India in a World Cup qualifier.

He has been a regular fixture in the national team, though only as a substitute for Lionel Lewis . However, due to his poor performances in the Merdeka Cup in 2007 with the Under-23 team, he was dropped for the friendly against UAE and Jasper Chan was called up in his place.

His fine display at the 2007 SEA Games helped the Singapore Under-23 squad win the bronze medal - their first SEA Games medal since 1995.

He performed extremely well in a World Cup Qualifier match against Saudi Arabia, but Singapore lost the match 2-0.

On 28 July 2008, Hassan played the first half as part of a Singapore Selection side in a friendly match against the Brazil Olympics Team and made outstanding saves against Diego and Alexandre Pato's shots, letting in only three goals.

In 2016, UK based The Telegraph ranked him #18 on its list of the world's top 20 goalkeepers.[14] He admitted to the Straits Times that he originally thought that it was a late April Fools joke.[15]

Hassan won his 75th cap for the Lions in early September 2018 against Mauritius.[16]

Others

Singapore Selection Squad

Hassan was selected as part of the Singapore Selection squad for The Sultan of Selangor’s Cup held on 6 May 2017.[17]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 5 Dec 2020. Caps and goals may not be correct.
Club Season S.League Singapore Cup Singapore
League Cup		 Asia Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Geylang International 2003 310----—310
Total 310000000310
Young Lions 2004 ??0----—??0
2005 ??0----—??0
Total 430000000430
Geylang United 2006 ??0----—??0
2007 ??0----—??0
Total 520000000520
Tampines Rovers 2009 280----—280
2010 30060--—360
2011 13000--70200
Total 710600070840
Warriors 2012 4000--—40
2013 240100060310
2014 25010--—260
Total 530200060610
Club Season Thai League T1 Thai FA Cup Thai League Cup Asia Total
Army United 2015 260----—260
2016 280----—280
Total 540000000540
Club Season S.League Singapore Cup Singapore
League Cup		 Asia Total
Home United 2017 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Club Season Thai League T2 Thai FA Cup Thai League Cup Asia Total
Army United 2018 00----—00
2019 260----—260
Total 0000000000
Club Season S.League Singapore Cup Singapore
League Cup		 Asia Total
Lion City Sailors 2020 110000000110
2021 0000000000
Total 110000000110
Career Total 315080001303360
  • Young Lions is ineligible for qualification to AFC competitions in their respective leagues.

Honours

International

Singapore

Clubs

Warriors FC

Individual

References
  1. "Announcement of squad for AFF Suzuki Cup 2014". Football Association of Singapore. 22 November 2014. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  2. "Singapore to Take on Syria and Cambodia in Lead-up to Suzuki Cup". FAS. 31 October 2016. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  3. "อาร์มี่แถลงเปิดตัวกุนซือใหม่-ยันสอย"ฮัสซัน ซันนี่"เข้ารัง". 29 November 2017.
  4. "Interview With Baihakki Khaizan". FAS. Archived from the original on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  5. "At first, i didn't like football..."
  6. "Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny comes Home". TODAYonline. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  7. "Awards night signals end of 2014 S.League season". S.League. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  8. Paul Murphy (16 February 2015). "Singapore keeper Sunny's Thailand debut quietens the doubters". ESPNFC. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  9. Paul Murphy (27 July 2015). "Sunny heroics as Army hand first TPL home loss to Suphanburi". ESPNFC. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  10. "Hassan extends Army United stay with new two-year deal". Football Channel Asia. 10 November 2015. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  11. Paul Murphy (1 December 2016). "Singapore's Hassan Sunny released by Thailand club Army United FC". ESPNFC. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  12. "Singapore footballers make their debuts in Thai league". The New Paper. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  13. hermesauto (19 December 2019). "Football: Hassan Sunny, 35, back Home with Protectors after leaving Thai side Army United". The Straits Times. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  14. "The top 20 best goalkeepers in the world". The Telegraph. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  15. hermesauto (13 April 2016). "Football: Hassan Sunny thought Telegraph accolade was belated April Fool's joke".
  16. "75-cap Hassan Sunny ready for Singapore No.1 battle with Izwan Mahbud". FourFourTwo. 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  17. "SINGAPORE SELECTION SQUAD FOR THE SULTAN OF SELANGOR'S CUP REVEALED - The Football Association of Singapore". www.fas.org.sg. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
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